Cold-blooded and comedic, homicidal and hysterical, Homebodies focuses on the lives of a tight-knit group of senior citizens living in an antiquated building that is about to be torn down and replaced with new apartments. Once they figure out that they can prolong their comfortable living situation if they only kill off the construction workers demolishing their ‘hood, these biddies only slightly hesitate to commence the bloodbath. With their moral compasses calibrated for torture and mayhem, they embark on a mission that they will never forget.
As JPX, JSP, CF, and ABs have already summarized, this movie offers quite a unique perspective because it’s both scarier and funnier than expected. I know from growing up watching movies like Batteries Not Included and Cocoon that movies involving old people have a lot of comic potential -- likewise, I also know from watching Rosemary’s Baby and Suspiria that the aged are not to be so quickly dismissed as invalids.
Homebodies presents several points of discussion involving how we treat the elderly and those displaced (or in the process of being displaced) due to gentrification and/or city planning decisions in which they weren't involved. I could see Homebodies being produced as a satirical response to the increasing number of people being evicted coming from a low socioeconomic population and not really having anywhere to go. However, it evades addressing the hot issues explicitly to further the plot, character development, etc. and not preach from a soapbox -- it works; and, it works as a great filter to capture the topics if you want them there to discuss. If you don't want to discuss them, then it's a cute but scary movie about what little old farts are capable of when they've done shuffling across the hallway talking to a recently deceased spouse.
As I mentioned, this movie surpassed my expectations for humor AND for horror. I never expected to be so scared by a bunch of retirees! I never expected to be so entertained by the cute knitted hat the ringleader viejita is wearing!
5 comments:
I just re-read my review and I'm embarrassed by how pathetic it sounds now. You do an excellent job summarizing why this film is so effective. To date it has not recieved a proper DVD/Blu-Ray release. If it wasn't for JSP I never would've heard of this gem. Definitely one of the better lost films out there. Why it hasn't reached cult status is bsyond me.
Yeah, what JPX said ;)
Thanks JPX -- I saw it mid-October so I definitely have had enough time to contemplate why it's so damn appealing :-)
Excellent breakdown of a great movie. I'm in the funny spot where I've already written a review of this (but I MUST post in ORDER), and now I need to reread it to see if it's good enough to follow yours. So, like, you scooped me, but you didn't, but you did.
Sweet review Crystal! I'm glad you found the time to squeeze this one in.
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