Anthology horror has always held a strange place in the canon, somehow seen as less than movies that are a single seamless vision, but simultaneously much-loved. Creepshow, for example, is as good as almost any other STEVES KING movie and significantly better than a huge amount of them, but never seems to get included when people discuss his cinematic adaptations. But mention it to anyone and they’ll go, “Oh yeah, I fucking loved Creepshow”.
Mico Montes’s directorial debut, Bare Skin, attempts to overcome this by having a framing device that is an equal part of the story, both in terms of time on screen and payoff. Five strangers who have all experienced various forms of extreme trauma have all come together to attend a group therapy session run by the ominously-named Dr Hedonia. This gives them all the opportunity to tell their stories in turn — which gives us the opportunity for a neat new anthology movie that also clings to a single story, straddling the divide between the two forms.
This is what gives rise to the film’s lengthy run time of nearly two and a half hours, but for those put off by its unwieldy length (matron), the near-anthology format leaves little opportunity to get bored and keeps things going at a cracking pace. In this it kinda reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk’s Haunted, although where I thought that failed slightly was that the framing device felt almost like an afterthought that was just there to pad out a somewhat small collection of (excellent) short stories, whereas here it’s far more integrated, and feels more like it’s the main plot than just a tree to hang the individual pieces on. And, to be fair, when the threads are brought together at the end it’s not a huge surprise, though the way it’s done is pretty neat. But of that I shall say no more because spoilers.
On a similar note the thing I found a little off-putting at first was the dialogue — everyone speaks VERY dramatically. The characters feel more like professional storytellers. But, like William Shakespeare or HP Lovecraft (but without the racism), once you get into the rhythm of things it all clicks into place and just adds one more strand of atmosphere. Speaking of which, this is a dark film, both visually and thematically.
There’s a cruelty to it that makes it feel dangerous, and though it doesn’t really step into the realms of the truly transgressive, it often leaves you feeling like it has (in much the same way that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre leaves you feeling like you’ve watched an extreme gore movie when the reality is you just haven’t). The vibe is creepy as fuck throughout, even in the segment about a strange violinist who murders with his bow. A section featuring a dominatrix feels very Clive Barker-coded, evoking a similar sense of dread to Anthony DiBlasi’s nasty adaptation of the story… well, the story Dread.
Indie horror is one of the few places left where sincerity is valued, and Bare Skin deserves a place in that. In literary terms I’d put it closer to Barker, Joel Lane or even Nathan Ballingrud than to King or Lovecraft, because it feels dangerous, and that’s something not enough horror movies these days aspire to (although a new generation including the likes of The Philippous and Zack Cregger seem to be bringing that back), and although as I said the drawing together of the strands doesn’t come entirely as a surprise, there are still twists enough for those feeling twisty.
So that’s a hard recommend from me, and I look forward to seeing where Montes goes next. On the basis of Bare Skin, he’s off to a very strong start.-Justin Farrington-
