Travis DeSimone
Corsair
I am not really into horror films. Maybe it is because I was raised on a steady diet of slasher flicks, but nothing seems to be shocking to me any more. What makes a horror movie truly stand out to me is a sense of tension, suspense. It takes more than blood and guts to please a jaded viewer such as myself. This is where Lucky Mckee’s The Woman stands out from your run of the mill psycho killer films.
A small town lawyer, Chris Cleek, happens upon a feral woman living in the woods, he decides to capture her and restrain her in the cellar in an attempt to “civilize” her. He takes it upon himself to assign his family to help with the “chores” involved with her upkeep, relating it to the same as the shared duties with the family dogs.
One thing about this film that made it work is the way they cut to the tortured woman in the cellar and cut back to the mundane happening of the family’s lives. Just knowing that she is down there and could break free at anytime is much scarier than the prospect of a super human psychopath looming around the corner with a machete, but surprisingly, she isn’t even the “monster”. The true monster is Cleek himself, domineering over his family. Cleek is abusive and every member of the family lives underneath his tyrannical reign. I don’t want to spoil any of the fun character drama, so I’ll leave it at that.
This film is graphic, sexually and violently. So if you are squeamish you might want to stay away, but if you love horror movies and want to see something different I would strongly suggest you dim the lights and sit down with The Woman.
