Husk

I’m not usually into horror, but I thought I’d give this one a shot, expecting to laugh at how bad it was. To my surprise, I got the exact opposite. Husk turned out to be a solid example of a modern horror film that does exactly what it’s supposed to—scare you. The effects were decent, the atmosphere was fantastic, and the story was dark enough. Sure, the characters made the usual dumb choices, acting like their brains were made of corn, but that’s pretty standard for the genre. I was expecting a dud, but I was genuinely surprised. I’m giving it two stars only because, well, it’s still a horror movie. Nothing groundbreaking, but it’s got its moments. (07.04.2011)

If all the After Dark Original films had this quality, I wouldn’t complain at all. Husk is a horror movie where the main roles are played by a scarecrow and maize. The scarecrow is a fairly widely used horror character that usually doesn’t end up in very good movies, but this time it works out quite well. Husk doesn’t try to build a thick atmosphere, instead, it uses the modern style of instant scares, but effectively so. In short, a nice, brisk snack that doesn’t get a higher rating mainly because of the script, which makes extensive use of awful gimmicks like: we need to reveal the past of the monster and we’ll do it with the dreams or hallucinations of a character. Watchable average. 6/10 (12.02.2011)