The Wretched
There is a great deal to process in “The Wretched.” That’s not because it’s a terribly deep movie, but because it’s so damn effective in how it goes about its business. This doesn’t just tell a story, but it creates a world. At the center of it is Ben, a teen with a broken arm, and a broken family. Both come into play as the story plays out.
The film that unfolds from writers/directors Brett and Drew T. Pierce begins with a scene taking place 35 years in the past, when a teenage girl comes to a house to a house in order to babysit. She doesn’t see anyone there, but she does hear someone in the cellar, which she- unwisely- investigates. The smart aspect about this introduction is the way it plays into familiar story structure for the genre, but it only becomes apparent later how it’s a setup to the creature of this film rather than a particular narrative thread. Even when Ben (John-Paul Howard) is introduced as visiting his father for the summer, the film is bringing other people into the film, continuing to build the world around Ben even when his story takes the lead. It’s a shrewd, smart choice that holds our interest more than a standard story structure would.
There are scares of many types in the film the Pierce’s have made. Some of them are familiar jump scare tropes, whereas others feel fresh, probably because of the execution more than being something we’ve never seen before. That’s likely due to the fact that, as the film progresses, Ben is setup as being Jimmy Stewart in “Rear Window,” trying to piece together a mystery from what he’s seen, but no one else believes. There is a supernatural reason for that, however, in the form of the witch that is haunting the area around him. This is where the broken family comes in to play. Ben’s parents have gotten a divorce, and Ben’s dad is seeing someone new. His behavior can largely be explained away by the idea that Ben’s acting out because he resents his dad moving on, or the fact that he has a substance abuse issue (he broke his arm after trying to steal pills from a neighbor’s house). But how do you explain that the neighbors claim to have never had a son, when Ben has clearly seen them with one? I wouldn’t put “The Wretched” on par with Hitchcock’s classic in terms of quality, but it makes smart use of the ideas it lifts from the film in adapting them to the genre at hand.
“The Wretched” is what we want a horror film to be. Part mystery, part creature feature, part thriller, all executed with ingenuity and attention to detail. I really love the third act twist here- I’m not entirely sure that I buy it, but I love how it adds another layer to the storytelling, and raises the stakes even higher than before. There is some fantastic creature effects and makeup here, we get some terrific atmosphere, and I kind of love the score by Devin Burrows. This is a great reminder of just how fun a supremely-crafted horror film can be.
