my thoughts on.... 'Before I Wake' (2016)

As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....
* There may be minor spoilers ahead *
Who didn't want their dreams to come to life, as a kid? But on the flip side, who was afraid to see their nightmares come to life? In 'Before I Wake', we find out exactly what that reality might be like.
Directed and co-written by Mike Flanagan ('Oculus', 'Hush' and 'Absentia'), he's one of the new crop of horror directors slowly making a name for himself. Granted, I see him taking more of a mainstream approach to his film making, he still has a solid sense of style and substance. His filmography contains slick, well produced, horror films with themes of fear and loss. In the past two months, I've had the chance to watch everything he's done, so far ,and I've already seen a progression in his direction and style. I don't feel that his best work has happened yet, but he's got a solid future ahead of him, if he continues on this same path. 'Before I Wake' stars Kate Bosworth as Jessie ('Blue Crush', '21' and 'Superman Returns'), Thomas Jane as Mark ('The Punisher', 'Drive Hard' and 'The Mist') and Annabeth Gish as Natalie ('Beautiful Girls' and 'Mystic Pizza'). All of them brought fairly well rounded characters to the screen and provided a solid base for the newcomer, Jacob Tremblay who plays Cody. In reality, Jacob's charm and charisma is what holds this film together. He's got a very natural style, almost unusually natural and that makes his take on Cody seem very genuine. It's hard to even say that for some seasoned actors, let alone a boy his age. With music by Danny Elfman and The Newton Brothers, they round out a very solid cast and crew, that all set the tone for a rather unique horror going experience. Something that I don't know that I've ever quite seen before and the more I've thought about it, the better the concepts have become.

The film opens with a man entering the room of a little boy. He's carrying a gun and it's implied that he's there to kill the little boy. After shooting into the darkness instead, we realize that there's more going on than we initially thought. From there, we find out the boys name is Cody. He's been passed from foster family to foster family and is now going to live with Jessie and Mark. Two parents who lost their son to an accidental drowning in their bathtub. Cody immediately makes a good impression, but they found out he's carrying some baggage. He has massive trouble sleeping and when they're already in bed, he's up drinking energy drinks and reading books about butterflies. Soon, Mark and Jessie are up late, after Cody is in bed and become surrounded by butterflies. Unsure where they've come from and trying to find the source, their little boy appears. He's as real as they are, until he just as quickly as he came, he vanishes. It becomes apparent that Cody is bringing all of this to life through his dreams, but he tells Jessie to be careful, because The Canker Man will be coming soon to eat them. After a few other nights of Jessie trying to bring back her son again, we finally meet The Canker Man. A sunken eyed monster, who whispers in a gravely voice, while surrounded by butterflies. The body count slowly starts to rise, as Cody is eventually taken away and Jessie starts her journey to find out the truth behind The Canker Man and how she can get Cody back.
As per my usual tactics, that's all I'm going to give you. After all, this movie hasn't even hit the theaters yet and isn't due out until September 9th. I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you, before you've had a chance to see it. This film is a mixed bag, in terms of so many things, but that's not a negative in this case. Being a somewhat jaded horror lover, in terms of the bigger budget Hollywood attempts, this one already had a slightly lower expectation than it really should have. Mike Flanagan has already proven that he can create suspense, dread and good, solid scares, when he wants too. What set this film apart from those other cookie cutter type spooky monster movies, is the creativity behind it all. The concept that a little boys dreams of an event he witnessed through his own eyes, manifesting itself in the real world, is really unique. It takes the things that used to hide under our bed and pulls them out into the open. All the things that we used to imagine were in the dark corner, behind the chair with the coat on it, are now right in front of us. Suddenly the monsters we feared are no longer just an over active imagination. Despite the negative results, the reality is that Cody actually has a gift. That brings me to the next aspect of this film that makes it different from all the rest. It contains a lot of very beautiful and quite magical images. Especially the Christmas light butterflies. It's almost like something out of a fairy tale. When you take something like that and suddenly twist it into the glowing eyes of your worst nightmares, it's unsettling and incredibly effective. The beautiful and the ugly come together to create something else. This, alone, is reason enough to recommend 'Before I Wake'.

This film starts out really strong, like all of Mr. Flanagan's other films, but does suffer from a few pacing problems. It also has some technical issues with The Canker Man, himself. Once he's out of the shadows, you see a bit too much of him and after that, the mystery is gone. Granted, you have to see him at some point, in order for the ending to make sense, but he could have worked to keep him more of a secret for a longer period of time. Perhaps if there were more practical effects than CGI? If I wasn't so tired of the use of CGI monsters and ghosts, I might have had a more positive response right away. Especially considering the overuse of it in the final act. I don't understand why special effects houses continue using the same stylistic choices with creature design? There are a lot of flaws in this film, ironically with the monsters themselves, who are one of the focal points. It's really the only major issue I have with this film. Otherwise, I feel like he succeeded in making a horror film that not only gives you a sense of wonder and child like awe, but also some real moments of terror and sadness.
My initial reaction was not as positive as this review may sound, but I slept on things last night and when I re-visited everything that happened in the film, I realized exactly how smart and well done this really was. With that being said, if you've made it this far into my review, please watch 'Before I Wake' with the mindset that The Canker Man and the others he's consumed, is only a piece of a much larger puzzle that is telling a story of love, loss and magic. Something I never thought I'd say about a horror film. With a second or third viewing, I believe this will reveal a few more truths, but for now, I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. Not necessarily because I absolutely loved it, but because it took risks and provided something new to the genre. 'Before I Wake' also did it with very seamless skill that made me not even notice the man behind the curtain, until it was over. I recommend going to see this one, when it hits the theaters. If you think you've seen everything that the world of scary movies has to offer.... you might be wrong.

If you like this, also check out Mike Flanagan's other work: 'Oculus', 'Absentia' and 'Hush'