Review: Skinamarink

Image courtesy of IFC Midnight

Kyle Edward Ball's debut, the experimental horror film "Skinamarink," deserves some praise for creating what I'd call a unique vibe through the film's series of grainy shots that often force the viewer to scour the corners of the frame looking for something frightening taking place. The picture spends much of its time focusing on ceilings, the tops of doorways, and the feet of its characters, and faces are only briefly seen during two instances in the picture.

However, despite the film's uniqueness, "Skinamarink" never pays off for the significant amount of patience that is required for its audience. For a film that only runs about 100 minutes, it often feels as if the picture goes on forever, especially considering that so much of it is mundane shots of dark hallways and muffled dialogue, with only subtitles telling us what is being said and much of the noise emanating from the old cartoons blasting from a TV, which also acts the film's primary source of light.

This could have been a tight, unsettling 30-minute short film, and the effect created by its meshing of videotape-quality imagery - the picture is set in 1995 - and its unusual soundtrack composed of whispery voices, clanks and creaks, and the aforementioned loop of cartoons could have gone a long way in a shorter format. Instead, "Skinamarink" often feels like a punishing sit through a student film that, although unique, goes on way too long and is only fitfully compelling.

The setup is simple: Two young kids awaken in the night to find that their parents are not in the house, that the house's doors and windows appear to be gone as well, and that some sort of presence is among them, beckoning them to "come upstairs." It takes quite some time for even this specter to appear, and the film's first 30 minutes, although setting its tone, feels like a fair amount of time wasted.

There are, to be sure, some creepy moments - one in which a child is called upon to look under the bed (although its the tension of not knowing whether anything will be there, rather than anything actually being there that makes it frightening) as well as a few unexpected jump scares. If nothing else, the film gives the impression that Ball could create a frightening horror film with a proper budget and a more well-considered concept. There's obvious talent involved here, even if it's not always utilized to the fullest extent.

Last year's crop of horror movies was among the best in recent years - from "X" and the creepy "Watcher" to "The Black Phone" and the unsettling "Barbarian" - and early word on "Skinamarink" placed it in that crowd. Unfortunately, I found the movie to be all vibe and not much else. I've long been a fan of independent horror and experimental films, but "Skinamarink" feels more like an exercise than a genre film you can sink your teeth into.