BODIES BODIES BODIES Review
In Slasher/Party/Social horror flick BODIES BODIES BODIES (which is just a fun movie title to say or scream) a group of rich kids somewhere on the line between Gen Z and Millennials (who cares?)get super fucked up and throw a “Hurricane party” which is when you throw a party and get super trashed during a hurricane.
Yes, this particular group of people seems to have the emotional range of a singular jellyfish. So, when one of them turns up dead you can imagine how they handle the situation. Like Ezra Miller handles vacation or Vin Diesel handles his Instagram account. Or Warner Bros handles….well…everything.
BODIES BODIES BODIES is not nearly as enraging as it may seem on the surface. There’s a lot of “Both can be true” isms happening here. For instance, these people are all very pretty and also very annoying. But they aren’t not entertaining. And we get to watch them die. So while the characters are in a lot of ways insufferable coked out TikTok dancing goblins who speak in the worst of Twitter speak? They all know it. They hate each other so much that we as the audience aren’t being asked to side with them like we would be in a movie like Blumhouse’s Black Christmas remake (ew). They are are their own worst enemies already being judged by the movie they live inside of and we as an audience are absolved of the burden of having to form an opinion while we watch them die. It’s nice.
Director Halina Reijn does the heavy lifting here as she makes BODIES BODIES BODIES a stylish and entertaining place to spend our time. From the atmosphere of the storm raging outside, to the camera work not merely capturing but somehow adding to the frenzy of everything happening. There’s a distinct look and feel to BODIES BODIES BODIES that movie folks will appreciate. You spend a good deal of the film feeling like your inside the poster art. There’s a vibe, man.
BODIES BODIES BODIES is at its best when we get into SCREAM territory. Wondering who the killer is and what their motive will be. The problem with this is the same problem the original FRIDAY THE 13TH has. Once we know the twist, the movie really doesn’t hold much rewatch value. Oh come on, don’t act like you haven’t decided to go straight to FRIDAY 2 and baghead Jason or even worse FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3D.
All I’ll say about the reveal of BODIES BODIES BODIES is that it is original, unexpected and very easy to understand. Overall I liked it. It has something to say about these assholes we’ve been watching on the screen. But be warned! It is very unconventional and bound to have some folks pissing on the floor of their local theater bathroom in anger. I’ve never seen someone do this myself but I mean someone is pissing on those floors and what happy person do you know just goes around pissing on floors?
Tiny side notes: Lee Pace fucking rules and isn’t in this or ANYTHING else nearly enough. His character here is the most interesting, funny and charismatic of the bunch and it isn’t close. Lee Pace is a goddamn treasure.
Also, the death scenes are a bit lackluster for those of you watching BODIES BODIES BODIES for the slasher tropes alone. They are great in intensity and meaning but lacking in execution and gore; More in service of the twist than the kills themselves.
Overall, BODIES BODIES BODIES is a stylish and moderately exciting one time watch. It does a nice job walking that fine line of having something to say about the world we live in and the people it makes us without ever pointing its finger at the audience. With an ending that has BALLS BALLS BALLS. 6.5/10
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