FRIGHT FEST: LET'S GET LOST IN THE TALL GRASS

Man, when Netflix hits it out of the park, they REALLY hit it out of the park.

In The Tall Grass is the latest Stephen King film, based on a novella he wrote with his son Joe Hill on Oct. 9 2009 in Esquire magazine (The film varies a great deal from the novella). In it, we follow close siblings Cal (Avery Whitted) and heavily pregnant Becky (Laysla De Oliveira). Becky has just left boyfriend Travis (Harrison Gilbertson, who looks remarkably like Emile Hirsche), and is on her way with Cal to give her baby to a family in need of a child. After a quick stop by a field of grass to throw up (morning sickness), Becky hears a child calling for help  deep in the grass. Becky and Cal  quickly venture into the grass to help, only to be immediately separated and lost themselves. Once in the grass, they meet a family consisting of Ross (the father, played by Patrick Wilson), Natalie (the wife, played by Rachel Willson), and Tobin (the son. played by Will Buie Jr.) who are also lost and separated from each other. Later, Travis shows up looking for Becky, claiming she has been missing and wants to make amends. Unfortunately, there is a large rock with strange powers in the grass, and Ross seems to have gone mad from its power and has started to worship it (even the grass seems oddly alive and ready to worship the rock).  It's up to Travis to attempt to lead the remaining group out of harms way and back to safety.

In The Tall Grass is directed and written by Vincenzo Natali, who previously directed Cube, Splice and Haunter (He also wrote Cube and Splice) . This film seems right up his alley, and he thrives within the grass, managing to do some pretty mind-blowing and mind-warping things. Oh yes, this film definitely messes with your mind and keeps you on the edge of your couch for the entirety of its run time (It also feels more well-formed and complete than the novella it's based on). Every actor is well cast and impresses, although the best of the bunch are Harrison Gilbertson as Travis and Patrick Wilson as Ross. Gilbertson is immensely likable and easy to root for as our "hero", and Patrick Wilson is terrifying and creepy as our "villain". Travis is pretty intelligent and sympathetic. We root for him to overcome the enormous odds that are stacked against him, and indeed he might not make it out of this alive. Wilson plays against type here and absolutely nails his role as the father who has lost his mind and has taken to hunting down the remaining members of the group, with the intent to either murder them or force them to touch the rock so they too can feel its power (Oh yes, this film is definitely talking about religion, and maybe even faith healing in a weird way).

My only real complaint is that there is a good deal of CGI here, and some of it is painfully obvious, though it definitely adds to the surreal-ness of the whole film and helps to further establish the tone, atmosphere and feel of the movie. In The Tall Grass seems to be made on a smaller budget, but this doesn't hurt the film, instead adding to its odd charm. With a great script, a great cast/great acting, and a great director, In The Tall Grass is yet another horror film worth remembering this year. It's dark (as in tone), freaky, scary, atmospheric, smart, clever and memorable. It's an easy recommendation this Halloween season.

4 STARS