The Woman (2011)★★★★★

Wow. I liked this movie way more than I anticipated. I watched it in broad daylight and it was still absolutely terrifying.

I’ve talked a lot about Stephen King already, but not about Jack Ketchum. Ketchum is another prolific horror writer whose works I started reading much more recently than King’s but whom I admire just the same.

Interestingly, while King is at his best writing about the fantastical, Ketchum is at his best writing about the horrors that arise out of the everyday world. And this movie certainly plays that up.

It’s incredibly well acted across the board. I believe the chemistry (or lack thereof) between the characters, and there’s enough development of each of them to really draw you into the story. It becomes increasingly hard not to care what’s going to happen next as the film goes on.

It’s well paced and well told, and it has a great payoff. It’s dark and disturbing but somehow not in a “torture porn” way – which simultaneously makes it more terrifying and more relatable (which makes it even more terrifying).

I’ll admit I only found out about Lucky McKee through the movies I’ve watched for this blog, but I am really impressed with what I’ve seen and definitely plan to keep an eye out for his future works.