Ich seh, Ich seh (2014) Reviews

• Slow but creepy

  Seth_Rogue_One2015-12-20

  A Austrian psychological drama horror that might not suit everyone just because it is a little bit on the slow side for the first half in particular and is then merely suggestively unsettling than a full on scare. But the slow build-up kept my interest and it definitely paid off in the end. I've read here that some people thought it was too predictable, but I must disagree because there were elements to the story that I had to go here to the message-boards to properly understand, and by then it all made sense of course. It could be because I am currently sick so my brain isn't working properly lol but I really don't think so, and I can usually tell how a horror movie is gonna end half asleep anyway. So yeah, recommended for patient viewers who's looking for a horror that isn't all about cheap jump scares but more of a psychological one.

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• Absolutely stunning film, for fans of beautiful art horror.

  horrorinpureform2015-07-06

  Well this movie caught me completely off-guard. I had no idea what to expect given that this is the very first feature film of Austrian director duo Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz. Goodnight Mommy is about two young twin boys who live in a countryside house with their actress mom, and spend most of their waking hours playing together. Their mother has just had surgery and her face is covered in bandages, rendering her unrecognizable to the twins. They become convinced that the woman who has returned from surgery is not their real mother...and I won't spoil the rest. If you have any interest in cinema as an art form, Goodnight Mommy is an absolute must-see. It is the most beautifully shot film I've seen since Under the Skin. Each shot is framed in such a meticulous and perfectly orchestrated way that you could pause the film at any time and end up with a still worthy of hanging on your wall. I've never seen a director put Venetian blinds to such diverse and good use, especially the nighttime shots of them, it made natural movement look slithery and creepy. The most haunting aspect of the incredible visuals was the approach to the scares, if you can call them that, in the first half of the film. The horror in Goodnight Mommy changes about halfway through, from purely subtle and visual to very unnerving body horror and even gore. Those subtle shots in the beginning reminded me of the old French film Eyes Without a Face. The mother is shown only in her bandages, with the audience having no reference point for what is under there, which helps us imagine the most horrible. She lurks like a monster in dark shadows and in reflections, and it is as chilling as it is beautiful, I enjoyed it immensely. That's not to say I was disappointed when the movie changed direction to the much more macabre in its second half. Exactly the opposite, in fact. The directors handle both subtlety and violence incredibly well, resulting in two entirely different but equally enjoyable halves. This transition also helped keep this very personal, three actor, single location film interesting until the end. It helped it avoid treading similar ground more than once. And oh my god what a second half we have here. The kind of violence the characters commit against each other is so specifically chosen. It may not be the bloodiest or most disturbing ideologically, but it is always acts that are very easy to imagine and relate to, so you actually end up feeling them in your body as if happening to you. This is body horror done right in my opinion. Goodnight Mommy also did something that very few movies dare to do. It interrupted the last third, the most tense part of a movie, with a hilarious 5 minute comedy scene involving some Red Cross workers. It was a big risk considering all the laughing could potentially diminish the impact of the ending once we return to the violence at hand. Instead it played it off masterfully and made the ending seem even more vile juxtaposed against the lightheartedness of that scene. On this note, all the other funny scenes in the film were also excellent. The beginning made me laugh much more than once. The downside is that one of the twists worked really well for this movie BUT was alluded to way too well, so you guess it before the first third is even over. On top of that, it's a twist that's already been done in a not too dissimilar Asian film before, so it is old news for hardcore horror fans. Regardless, this weak hiding may have been intentional since the movie doesn't make that big of a deal out of it in the end. In fact, the twist creates a very clever distortion of your perception of the characters initially, and twists (no pun intended) your expectations of who is up to what. So although not original, it just made the rest of the movie better so I'll accept it as a necessary evil. Goodnight Mommy is one of the strongest horror debut films I've seen. It is stunning body horror, and puts most other films to shame with its cinematography. Well-directed, well-acted, well-everything. An absolute must-see.

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• Goodnight Mommy

  Argemaluco2015-12-06

  Goodnight Mommy takes more than it should to find its rhythm, but it eventually gains energy and becomes a very interesting psychological thriller. It's difficult to write a review of this film without revealing the disturbing events from its third act, so it will be better to be mentioning what does NOT happen. Even though Goodnight Mommy was widely acclaimed in websites dedicated to horror cinema, it isn't a typical supernatural tale or a gore spectacle (even though it can be said that there are slight traces of both styles); and the twist in the end is quite well implemented, and I had never seen it coming. The actors make an extraordinary work in their roles, revealing the complex relationship between their characters without too much words. The story is set at a cottage inhabited by three persons (well, there is some occasional "guest", but they are just auxiliaries of the plot who don't require too much definition). That minimalistic cast defines the general tone of the movie, shot with an elegant austerity (which is typical of European cinema) which is also reflected on the terse dialogs and cold cinematography, portraying the games of the kids and the moments of the ending with the same indifference. On the negative side, the screenplay takes more than it should to find its own rhythm, as I previously mentioned. On the one hand, that increments the suspense; but on the other hand, it occasionally leaves us on an emotional drift, without enough clues to draw conclusions or enough events to impulse the narrative. Fortunately, the many pros of Goodnight Mommy end up compensating that complaint on a big degree, and I recommend it as quite a solid film, which might be horror, thriller or drama; but its analysis of psychological traumas and family dissolution doesn't need to engage with a specific genre in order to leave the spectator satisfied.

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• The most predictable film I've seen in a long time. *warning spoilers*

  jadoredior19832016-03-27

  *warning major spoilers! Only read if you don't want to see this movie or already have seen it* Well I feel like I've wasted an hour and a half to watch a movie that I knew what was going to happen within the first 10 minutes of it. This plot has been done to death and by much better directors and screen writers. Child suffers from complicated grief, imagines his brother never died. Mother gets surgery done after her husband leaves her because he couldn't handle his son's death (speculation, we never see him. All the pictures are gone and the only time he is mentioned is in a phone call saying after they separated). She comes back after the surgery and is not having her son's psychosis anymore. She tries to get him to stop believing the fantasy that Lukaz is still alive. She's mean and cold to Elias. So he thinks it's a case of body snatchers! There's a lot of evidence showing she's different I.e. Different eye color, no mole, forgets Lukaz' favorite song but she had good explanations for all of them. So they tie her up and torture her. Then the evil twin Lukaz keeps trying to convince Elias to not believe her. Finally after some gross body horror Lukaz(the dead brother) convinces Elias to kill her by setting the downstairs a blaze. I'm pretty sure he died with his mom because the final scene is both boys reunited with their ideal mom. I can't believe a lot of reviews on here said they were on the "edge of their seats." I kept falling asleep, hoping for a surprise ending and was totally let down. I would have given it 1 star but the kids were adorable when they weren't being little evil psychotic brats. Oh BTW if your son has cockroaches as pets he's probably disturbed. There you go. Now you don't have to watch this piece of garbage.

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• A great film

  joe-chisholm2015-12-07

  This is an absolute gem of a movie. It is a foreign film, so subtitles are a must if you're not Austrian. It starts out a little slow, but somehow keeps the viewer intrigued by the boys odd disposition. The film is filled with great scenery and the character development is done with a somewhat artistic taste showing what young boys get into. There are some great uses of cinematography especially during dream sequences. I would once again, reiterate that the movie is a little slow paced, but don't let that discourage you...You are in for a real treat. The film possesses one of the best endings I have seen in a long time. It a unique movie, and I absolutely loved it. I think a 7 is a fair assessment. Once again, hang in there. WATCH THIS MOVIE.

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