Story: A same-sex couple move to a small town so they can enjoy a better quality of life and raise their 16 year-old daughter with the best social values. But nothing is as it seems in their picturesque neighborhood. And when Malik sees the folks next door throwing a very strange party, something shocking has got to give.
As a horror freak, I'm always searching for the next big thing. It's unusual for queer horror films to get made and the ones that do usually suck. One of the more recognized is Hellbent, which is weirdly the only decent modern gay slasher. Unfortunately, most of these flicks usually have low budgets which mean bad actors, bad scripts, and direction. Most of them focus heavily on sex & penises and don't get me wrong, I love my full frontals as much as the next guy but don't let that be the only memorable detail about your movie.
I've seen some decent ones like Rift (from Iceland) which was flawed but interesting. I've seen Killer Unicorn which felt too amateurish. We have Midnight Kiss, a bland slasher from the Into The Dark Hulu series, and Cruising starring Al Pacino.
Spiral is no doubt a step in the right direction even if it let me feeling underwhelmed by the time the credits started rolling. Once the mystery was solved everything felt silly and unnecessary. Do you know how in Get Out you find the villains weren't altogether racist but instead wanted to sort of inhabit their victim's bodies because of say, their superior genes? And that reveal kinda betrayed the whole social commentary on racism? Was I the only one who felt that way? Well, something similar happens here.
Frankly, one of the primary reasons this turned me off is lead Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (UnREAL) who annoyed the hell out of me with his portrayal as a whiny traumatized queer black man. I don't know whether it was his performance or just the way his character was written but he took me out of the story. The rest of the cast do fine and it's been a while since I've seen Lochlyn Munro (Scary Movie) in anything so I liked watching him.
Spiral does well in setting up the mystery at hand and it's quite atmospheric. I always enjoy winter settings. For the first two acts, I was hooked and wondering what the hell was going on. Just the payoff was weak. The revelation didn't come off as much of a surprise either. There's some cheap jump scares here and there that could've been without in an otherwise serious tale.
In conclusion: Spiral is competently made and a step in the right direction for queer horror. It's never really scary or intense but there's a sense of dread throughout and I also dig the fact that the story takes place in the '90s. The '90s are always welcomed in my book of crappy opinions.
Watch the trailer:
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