Cobweb (2023) - Close to a Halloween Classic

Cobweb (2023) is a film that oozes with the Halloween spirit. Pumpkins are abundant, with spiders and webs around every corner. There are lush shots of an Autumnal American town getting ready for Trick or Treating.

In the midst of this, there is Peter (played with strong nuance by Woody Norman). A shy boy who is being woken up at night by knocks on his bedroom wall, which leads to a mysterious voice claiming to be his friend. Soon, Peter is entangled in a web where he no one is trustworthy.

The less you know about Cobweb, the more enjoyable the movie will be. At first it seems like the film is taking all the ingredients for a standard horror movie, but it takes these ingredients and subverts them. Just when you think you know where the story is going, it pivots in a different direction. This is true even down to the scares; when you see the set up for a jump scare, it does something different. This makes what would otherwise be standard 'Blumhouse' scares into something more visually interesting and creative.

This is a good description for the rest of the movie. Just when you think you know where its going, and that you've seen it before, it twists in a way that you don't expect. At first, it's a haunted house movie, then the parents are the suspects, then you're left questioning whether to trust the voice in the wall at all. In the end, Cobweb makes good use of solid pacing and a strong script to create a pleasant surprise.

The strong performances are a huge help in this. Lizzy Caplan as the mother, and Anthony Starr as the father both seem like horribly saccharine characatures at first, but soon transform into unsettling, menacing figures. The tension in the scenes between them and Peter is palpable, and creates a sense of claustrophobia; of helplessness, as you realise that there is no escape from them. The double entendre of their lines is written and performed so you're just never entirely sure of their true intent.

Another strong aspect of the movie is the cinematography. The few scenes outside the house are brimming with Halloween spirit, whilst the scenes inside create a haunting, cavernous space, reflected in the colours and lighting of the scene. A strong sense of mood is created. Not to mention the use of shadows and silhouettes on the wall. The unique choices elevate the film from something cliche, to something engaging and pleasing to watch.

Where the movie falls short is the third act. In said third act, the myterious voice is revealed, and the film does start to fall back on classic Blumhouse horror scares. That being said, the figure is still strong. The way the character moves and the use of hair is enough to make the audience twitch in their seats. They're an imposing figure and a real threat. What's more, the details are never revealed. We're left in the dark. This is the monster under the bed, and seeing its true face is the end.

And it's the end in this film, too. Unfortunately, after a couple of hauntingly beautiful shots, the villain is unmasked. The design choice is poor, and because the design choice is so poor, said villain seems much less threatening, and borderline comedic.

From there, the film attempts to round up its message; childhood trauma will stick with you. It's becoming a popular message in recent horror, and therefore becoming dull. Especially when so many movies don't seem to have much to actually say about it. In this case, it leaves a clever, suspenseful film not quite adding up, since the stand in for trauma is a physical entity. It leaves the ending messy and unsatisfying, which, considering all the guessing it wants its audience to do, lets the film down.

Even then, it could have been easily salvaged. If there had been a mirror to the earlier scene of releasing a spider from a jar. This would have made for another subversive twist, as well as tying up the theme in a bow.

Overall, Cobweb is a very solid movie. It could easily join the ranks of Trick'r'Treat in Halloween classics for its abundance of pumpkins, imagery and its twisting story. Unfortunately, it falls into a crucial horror pitfall:

It shows us the monster.