Out now on HBO Max and other streaming platforms, Barbarian provides the scares and thrills needed for the Halloween season. Keep an eye out for an official released date for the physical copies, hopefully later this year.
“Traveling to Detroit for a job interview, a young woman books a rental home. She arrives late at night to find that the house is double-booked, and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than an unexpected house guest.”
There are very few times when I get as intrigued by a horror trailer as I did with Barbarian. With a perfect setup, the trailer spells out almost exactly what you’d expect the film to be about, and when beginning the film itself, it seems to be on track, but takes a drastic and unexpected turn.
While I try and tend to avoid any major spoilers, certain facts about the film and the way the story unfolds are, or were to me, surprises in themselves, so if you want to go in with a complete clear mindset, read no further.
The biggest surprise to me, while it really has little to do with the actual plot, was how Justin Long fits in to the story, based on the trailer that features only Georgina Campbell and Bill Skarsgård, and that’s only because he’s been doing the press junket tour. His story doesn’t begin until quite a ways into the film, with a very relevant situation he’s found himself in, ultimately leading to the fated house in a rundown Detroit neighborhood.
The themes of the film and how two seemingly different stories intertwine work on several levels. While I won’t give away what exactly is in the basement of the home, the film illustrates how something doesn’t have to be in a dark basement in a rundown neighborhood to be evil, it can exist in sunny, affluent cities, in the people next to us, and that actions speak louder than words. It’s a relatively straightforward moral tale that tries to disguise good and evil, but human nature isn’t something you can hide easily. While I appreciate the exploration of this, as a horror fan, none of it surprised me, especially the ending. That being said, the road to get there was a lot of fun, fairly unique in its execution and best of all something fresh for the genre especially during this time of year.
Being purposefully vague about the film, I for one found the mystery of it all the best part, not knowing much of anything beyond the first opening sequence that’s featured in the film’s trailer. It’s the best way to watch it, and you can see it now on some streaming services.
Besides the film itself being fantastic, another sign of good news is the fact that 20th Century Studios, now owned by Disney, isn’t shying away from good horror products, especially in the gore department. There’s plenty of it, and very graphic, which I believed Disney would have started to shy away from. Glad to be proven wrong!
We were given a digital code to review this film, which is now available on HBO Max and other paid streaming services. As of now, there is no official release date for the physical copy of the film on Blu-ray and potentially 4k, which will hopefully be packed full of extras with superior video and audio, something that cannot be accurately reviewed based on internet connections. This film is, in my opinion, one of the better horror films to be released in recent memory, and sure to be a classic, especially during this time of the year. After you stream it, be sure to grab a copy of it to enjoy year after year, I know I will be.
