Why "Last Night in Soho" is Bad.

 "Last Night in Soho" is a film by Edgar Wright, a director famous for the famed Cornetto trilogy ("Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End") as well as "Baby Driver" and its stylish use of sound and movement. 

The movie is Wright's seeming attempt at actual horror (unlike the comedic horror of "Shaun of the Dead"). This is a movie with fantastic acting, crazy good photography, lighting and technical shots/camera effects that are absolutely stunning. Despite all of this, you can't escape 2 of the most important facets of horror movies: writing and editing. 

The story itself is... fine? It's a statement about violence against women, revenge and I guess mental health, to some degree. I'm all for a good statement about how important it is to raise awareness around violence against women, but it's been done substantially better for movies made long before this (see: "Irreversible". Or actually, don't... you can't unsee it.) The thing of it is, the dialogue is just bad. All that wit and style from Wright's other films is fine in their native habitats. But he doesn't change the formula for LNIS, so when any antagonist is trying to seem threatening/scary, it just comes across like badly timed British humor.

Then there's the editing. Normally, Wright's films are cut in a way that defies logic and reason and leaves the viewer in awe. This film, again, doesn't diverge from his "formula": a formula historically reserved for comedy and action. That formula does incredible things for those genres, but in horror.. I felt myself actually calmed by the stylistic editing and quick cuts used to relay the ghost story. I understand that every director is entitled to a style. I'm just saying Wright's isn't suited for good horror.

Let's take Kubrick's "The Shining". Specifically, the scene around Room 237 (old hag, bathtub). This scene, is filmed with low sound, as a slow moving handheld camera walks through Room 237 and approaches what we know to be a horrific ghost. The tension is palpable and the fear throughout the audience is very very real. Kubrick holds onto the viewer with his lens and he specifically doesn't cut: he will not let you look away.

Conversely to this, all Wright's "Soho" does is cut cut cut cut cut "hey look how neat this digital transition is" wink wink cut cut" SO much that the viewer is never afforded the opportunity to actually sit in their fear. 

These are the ravings of a middle aged nobody, so if you liked it, good for you. I'm not trying to yuck your yum, I just have a blogger page and wanted to write about this thing that was irking me. 

Cheers.