The Horror Show
Velvet Buzzsaw
by Dan Gilroy
If you ever wondered how a film could be intriguing and tiresome at the same time, I have good news for you! There’s a new Netflix Original called Velvet Buzzsaw that will satisfy your curiosity. Whether or not you’ll enjoy the two hours you spend watching this strange film is another thing altogether.
The concept of this film was one that really interested me. The trailer, as well as the synopsis, pulled me in and I’d been looking forward to watching it for a few weeks now. Imagine if art created from a place of such darkness came to life. Imagine if the artist’s last wishes — that all his art be destroyed — were ignored. Imagine if greed got the best of a group of, for lack of a better word, shitty people. Finally, imagine if the artist’s darkness began hunting these people down one by one. These are all wonderful things to consider when you are watching Velvet Buzzsaw, but sadly, I have to say the main message was lost amongst petty character squabbles and uninteresting love triangles.
Yes, this film is a satire, that’s not lost on me. While I did enjoy the comedic elements sprinkled throughout, I was just expecting a little more oomph. The strongest element to hold my interest was the supernatural, and again, sadly, this element was muddled and never quite explored in the way I feel it should have been. Perhaps that was the point, that the lurking evil be swirled amidst the pretentiousness of each character in such a way that you almost miss it. I just found it more strange than satisfying when it was all over. Maybe I’m not artsy or pretentious enough myself to have enjoyed this more.
With a talented cast and brilliant cinematography, the film sort of makes up for its blurry, snailish plot. The gore and death scenes are few and far between for the typical horror hound, but I still found them to be, for the most part, entertaining and befitting of the characters’ demises.
Netflix seems to have another original film on its hands that makes me want to shrug with indifference. I would highly recommend watching Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler over this new one any day.
Stevie Kopas, HMS
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