But even worse are the inconsistencies throughout Skinamarink. The biggest reason this is inaccessible is because Ball does not anchor the narrative around a recognizable point of view. It cannot be the evil (?) whatever-it-is it only enters later on. It isn’t the parents who vanish or end up in a different realm (?). Why else would the same scene play out with the dad and then the mom?
In that scene, the dad tells one of the kids to look under the bed. The camera then moves (one of the only times) via a first-person POV. Nothing is found, and as the child relooks, the scene transitions into the same actions but now with the mom. However, several times throughout this wet paper towel of cinematic expression, the camera is on the ceiling looking down. Therefore, the perspective cannot be of Kevin or Kaylee, as they aren’t the ones doing the action that high up. This negates one of the best possible interpretations the “plot” had going for it (everything that happens is some sort of waking nightmare of the kids based on past trauma).
The lousy screenplay, the awkward line deliveries, the technical snafus, and the confusing story beats are all strikes against Skinamarink. But the worst offense is that it has nothing to say. By failing to choose a solid point of view and disrupting any opportunity the viewer has to feel immersed in what’s happening, the director is then unable to say anything about anything. The nightmare/trauma angle has already been debunked. So, if that’s not what is going on, then what is the film trying to say?
“…[a] wet paper towel of cinematic expression.”
Even the notorious The Room, with its infamously bad editing and even worse lead performance, looks at how betrayal at the hands of people you love stings. It is not good at delivering on those ideas, but they’re there. Likewise, the too boring for its own good Birdemic has themes of pollution and climate change at its core. But Ball fails to find a reason for anything that happens.
Of course, all this means that Skinamarink is barely watchable, much less scary. Some shadows move across the ceiling or wall with the aforementioned off-putting sound design. Not creepy. The entity talks in a deep, bellowing voice. That isn’t scary. Nor is watching/listening to public domain cartoons in the background. Nothing sinister, frightening, or eerie happens, not even by accident. How any person watched this and felt anything other than boredom and fatigue is a mystery.
With a budget of $15,000, I must ask where that money went. Here’s a list of everything on screen: Legos, human legs and feet, fake blood, a television set, a bed, a couch, and a Fisher Price toy phone with a face. Unless this house was built from the ground up, there is no reason for so much to have been spent on so little. Anyone can recreate this using nothing more than their smartphone, basic editing software, and a few days off from work. None of the budget is seen, felt, or experienced. Not only did Ball squander the potential of a children’s nightmare come to haunt them, but he also squandered thousands of dollars.
Ball’s first foray into filmmaking wasted his efforts and the audience’s time. Skinamarink is a movie where nothing happens, literally, and reaches its overly long runtime by just repeating scenes over and over for no rhyme or reason. If they weren’t scary initially, they are definitely not so the second, third, or fourth time. He’s unable to filter the plot through a specific perspective and offers no context for literally anything that happens. As such, the filmmaker has made one of the worst movies of all time. There is no substance here, nothing to latch on to or be invested in. It isn’t even fun-bad or a guilty pleasure. So why does this exist? I have no clue.
"…one of the worst movies of all time."
