Cinematic Doctrine

Where the Scary Things Are - Delightfully Terrible in All the Right Ways

December 27, 2022 Melanie DeJesus Season 1 Episode 136
Cinematic Doctrine
Where the Scary Things Are - Delightfully Terrible in All the Right Ways
Show Notes

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Melvin and Melanie explain, beat for beat, the entirety of Where the Scary Things Are, one of 2022's most baffling and hilariously unwatchable features that nobody knows about. Amidst frustrated and confused laughter, the two bring you from opening to closing credits! Hilarity ensues! 

Topics: 

  • (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 18-minutes discussing Christmas seasonal stress (gift giving and decorations) and the balancing Christian traditions with Western traditions (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 
  • The blurb for Where the Scary Things Are is about a group of students who find a monster and turn it into an influencer. Sort of. 
  • The choice to shoot Where the Scary Things Are at Field of Screams, a real horror themed park, greatly benefits the general aesthetic of the film. 
  • A teacher gives the students their project to create a local myth, and while the film showcases him as a moral third-party, the things he does as a teacher are remarkably not great. 
  • Ayla is a combination of an extremely unhinged bully who also cares a lot about her grades, which is an inherently funny combination. 
  • There comes a point early on the audience will go, "Why are these kids even friends?" because it's clear nobody likes each other. 
  • The creature design for Where the Scary Things Are is a major plus to the film, despite the creature doing nothing throughout the movie. 
  • Melanie's biggest frustration is how unclear Where the Scary Things Are is when it comes to its tone and theme. 
  • Speaking of, there's one scene that theoretically comes together in showcasing the theme of Where the Scary Things Are, but it's a scene where the performances are so poorly executed that it completely disrupts the film. 
  • It takes an hour before the first kill happens and it's limited to the small viewfinder of a handheld camera, so the spectacle of violence is mostly stale. 
  • Melvin proposes what makes a "so bad its good" movie good, and how Where the Scary Things Are fits perfectly into that category. 

Recommendations: 

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