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59th Chicago International Film Festival, Capsule Reviews, Film reviews

Departing Seniors Review

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This is one those slasher films where the intention feels like it is to make viewers giggle, scream, and snicker. My experience with Departing Seniors involved watching the audience find the fun in terror and laugh their heads off. I did the same thing. Departing Seniors is a slasher film with imaginative irony. Itspremise is based on the life of high school seniors. Who expects a high school horror film to be funny? There are many notable moments in Departing Seniors. Claire Cooney knows how to be innovative and include many twists as a director and editor. Her directing in Departing Seniors is one-of-a-kind. Audiences should expect to be surprised, but also expect to shed some tears due to laughter.

Departing Seniors focuses on Javier (played by Ignacio-Diaz-Silverio). He is a high school senior who is dealing with an underlying issue, i.e., psychic abilities. Based on these abilities,he can figure out the many dangers that are going on in his school. For example, there is a serial killer going back and forth sporadically. Javier is not a popular student. However, his teacher, Mr. Arda (played by Yani Gellman), seems to be very interested in him, which sets off a red flag. Javier and his friends, Ginny (played by Maisie Merlock) and Bianca (played by Ireon Roach), are concerned about the tragic aftermath of the events occurring at their school. For everyone, the biggest concern is these things are happening right before they graduate high school. The title speaks for itself here. Ironically, the students find themselves more concerned about missing out on fun and having their graduation ruined than they are about the deaths caused by the serial killer.

The joyful part of Departing Seniors is the fact that it exposesthe obliviousness of students worrying about their final school days being impacted. While all the crazy and dangerous events are taking place throughout the school, Javier realizes when and where the killings might happen. Nevertheless, he is not brave enough to admit what he knows because of his concern that it might cause him to feel disconnected again. The humorous part of putting concerns about being disconnected over safety is where Departing Seniors is cleverly directed. When the kills do happen, it is out of the blue and the surprises are unexpected. I found myself laughing when the slashing would just happen on the spur of the moment. Sometimes in the film there are already situations filled with some humor or frustration, but then bang, a murder happens. Departing Seniors is well paced and giveshorror fans a wild ride with plenty of slashes and laughs.

Overall, it is an experience of dramatic irony and terror. The punchlines are a bit abstract and unexpected, but the outcomes are a revelation. Departing Seniors is a film where the chills build, the psychic abilities become detrimental, and it is a wonderous adventure for the Halloween season. The experience is memorable due to the scares and endless laughs. Three out of four stars for Departing Seniors.

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The Boogeyman review

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Based on a Stephen King story, The Boogeyman is what I consider “good horror”. There is a strong storyline, at least at the beginning. But there are also dark corners of the film where the symbolizations are questionable. The Boogeyman is one of those supernatural horror films that will put its audiences’ gut to the test. I felt scared in increments, and The Boogeyman knows when to break in with jump scares. It is a film that will keep its audiences guessing what will come next.
 

The plot of The Boogeyman involves a widowed father, Will Harper (played by Chris Messina), who has two daughters to raise, Sadie and Sawyer (played by Sophie Thatcher and Vivien Lyra Blair). Will works long hours at his private practice as a counselor while also trying to help his daughters cope with their mother’s death. A man named Lester Billings (played by David Dastmalchian) comes into Will’s practice and explains disturbing events that have the potential to haunt Will and his daughters forever. With the girls already dealing with depression problems after the death of her mother, eerie scenarios begin for the Harper family. A weird spirit appears and all kinds of strange events begin to occur.

As the terror turns to danger, there is a growing fascination with The Boogeyman. Its dark backstory provides an element of surprise, because there are resolutions that are genius and superb as Will must do what he needs to do to protect Sadie and Sawyer from the spirit that has entered their life. There may be past events that are damaging, but they also provides hope. The Boogeyman challenges its characters and its audience to believe in what may be the right approach to fighting off the unexpected terror.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that The Boogeyman is a quite disturbing character. One way to explain what it looks like is that it’s almost like a monster paired with a wendigo, which is a Native American mythological creature or evil spirit. From my perspective it seemed a lot like a wendigo, specially with the weakness of the monster not liking lights. The creature is somewhat generic, but the film itself is still intriguing for its backstory.

So is Lester related to the evil spirit and these events? Is any of this related to the death of the girls’ mother? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel to the madness in The Boogeyman? Is there more to the events than its audience thinks? Is there a meaning that surrounds all the events that spiral into strange patterns? See for yourself and find out in The Boogeyman. It is a ride that is creepy but invigorating. Three out of four stars for The Boogeyman.