Nothing evokes sympathy for a killer like putting the viewer directly in their shoes. Seeing the story from their perspective means getting to know them on a more intimate level. Their motivations, insecurities, and vulnerabilities engender rooting interest in a compelling way. It’s one thing for a slasher villain to stalk and slash their way through unsuspecting campers silently. It’s an entirely different story when a killer attempts to forge human connections and fails tragically before giving in to their darker impulses. In some cases, tragedy gets swapped out for humor to cast the sympathetic light. Whichever the tactic, getting up close and personal with a monstrous character adds a new layer of depth.
This week’s streaming picks frame their tales of terror through the killer’s lens. Whether funny or sorrowful, all have a very, very dark underpinning.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
The Stylist – Arrow
Najarra Townsend stars as Claire, the eponymous hairstylist. Claire’s a talented professional with a reputation for transformative work and an unwavering ability to put her clientele at ease. The more she listens to her customers unburden themselves upon her, the more the lonely stylist covets their lives. For Claire, she sometimes acts on the impulse to step into another’s shoes by drugging one-off customers and scalping them to don their hair whenever she feels like being someone new. Claire is a soft-spoken, timid woman without any real friends, and her mournful vulnerability is heartbreaking, even when driven to homicide.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon – Prime Video, Shudder
Behind the Mask works as a hysterical deconstruction of the slasher formula set around an aspiring slasher icon, Leslie Vernon. Leslie gives a documentary crew exclusive and intimate access to his life, walking them through his training and detailed plans to slay a group of teens and enter the slasher pantheon. His dynamic relationship with his chosen final girl, Taylor Gentry, provides an unexpected emotional backbone, and the humor is instantly disarming. Nathan Baesel is so winsome as Leslie that it’s difficult not to root for the aspiring slasher icon’s murderous success.
Maniac (2012) – AMC+
This remake of the 1980 film dials up the sympathy for Frank Zito, thanks to a far meeker rendition by Elijah Wood. Frank is a troubled individual with a traumatic past, and he tends to scalp women to keep his one happy childhood memory alive. Enter Anna, a photographer with whom Frank is so smitten that he attempts to get his act together. Too bad this is a horror movie and a happily ever after isn’t on the menu for these surprisingly sweet characters. Frank Zito commits heinous acts, and yet you desperately want him to find the help he needs. This remake also takes the killer’s perspective literally, framing everything from Frank’s point of view.
The House That Jack Built – Hulu
Jack (Matt Dillon) is an unrepentant and highly intelligent serial killer. Using Dante’s Inferno as a metatextual guide to chronicle the twelve-year period over which Jack commits grisly murders, the film employs a lot of dark humor to engender viewers to an unfeeling, sociopathic killer. The twisted comedy is necessary, as things get downright gruesome for Jack’s victims. When all the other films on this list create sympathy for their monsters, this one spares none. It makes its destination all the more satisfying, and Dillon’s portrayal certainly helps.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – Hoopla, HBO Max
Jane was a spoiled child star, while her shy sister Blanche hung back in the shadows. When they got older, Jane fell out of the spotlight and into alcoholism. Blanche became a successful actress but kept a promise to her mother to care for her younger sister. The roles reversed when an accident rendered Blanche paralyzed from the waist down, and Jane was blamed for it. Jane’s form of care for her sister comes with emotional and psychological torture. Sibling rivalry gets downright ghoulish here, and Jane finds disturbing ways to torment Blanche. Major reveals give insight to this dysfunctional family, lending an overwhelming sense of tragedy.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3654843/stay-home-watch-horror-5-horror-movies-killers-perspective-stream-week/
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