It is here that I will mention one of the assets of The Luring. Aside from being a competently shot and framed picture, it finally helped me understand Stephen King’s decades-old complaint about Stanley Kubrick’s version of his novel The Shining. He mentioned that the casting of Jack Nicholson took away the audience’s belief of the slow slide into insanity by Jack Torrence, from family guy to raging psycho.
In The Luring, Garrett is a dick from the offset. He is all sneer and condescension when we meet him as an adult. Even through flashbacks, we learn he’s always been a jerk, greeting kids who attend his party with “Did you bring me a present?” This character flaw undermines any scene in which he engages with his girlfriend that is supposed to add narrative drama to the film. He remains so thoroughly unlikeable, so his Shining-like turn is of no surprise.
And speaking of narrative, The Luring’s focus is never truly clear to the viewer. I enjoy ambiguity as much as the next guy, but like the characters from the opening sequence, things spring up throughout with no narrative tissue to hold it all together. Even the film’s flashbacks are shot with the same exact style in the same exact locations as present-day, which makes it indistinguishable and confusing.
“…relies heavily more on dramatic tension than gore…”
There are some moderately decent performances that would pass muster in a more traditional slasher flick, but since The Luring relies heavily more on dramatic tension than gore, the cast is not able to shoulder that burden.
This marks the debut from writer-director Christopher Wells, and while he certainly shows potential in shots and framing, he should perhaps ratchet back the Stephen King references a tad. Aside from the obvious Shining inspiration, he also uses a floating red balloon to signify on-coming horror. I get that a tragedy took place at a birthday party, but that image is so deeply tied with the highest-grossing horror film of all time (King’s It), that he should have chosen another party favor, or at the very least changed the balloon’s color.
There is potential that elevates The Luring from traditional small-budget horror output on a visceral level, but sadly there are no amount of balloons that could elevate this to a recommendation.
"…focus is never truly clear to the viewer."
I watched the film and I really enjoyed it and it actually sparked a discussion with my roommates who saw it with me. We ended up re-watching some scenes that would support whatever point we were trying to make. I first saw the trailer and that got me. I don’t think The Luring is for everyone but to be honest, great, I’m so sick and tired of the same plots you can see unfold a mile away. The Luring isn’t your typical horror film rather its a psychological thriller which is to me a big difference. I respectfully disagree with your take on The Luring comparing it to the movie “It” as if there can’t be any other movie with a red balloon. If The Luring had a clown holding a balloon in a gutter that would be a different story but the backstory of the balloon in The Luring is substantially different from the movie It. Let it go.
Not to pick apart your review but you mention the decor of the flashbacks. That’s explained in the film. The inside of the house hasn’t changed since the “incident” as the old man as the agent explained so why would the furniture be different? They don’t live there.
I don’t know, maybe I saw something you didn’t but I think you’re hung up on Stephen King, I saw some influences from The Shining but that didn’t bother me at all, I liked how the film unfolded and the pace of the film was Shinning-like but I see two totally different stories.
I also really liked how the director Wells gave this film a tone of its own, from the ultra quick flashbacks to the way the story wraps up in the end, I wasn’t expediting that. The quick flashbacks reminded me of the ones in Easy Rider but I’m not going to say this movie is a rip off that movie because of it.
Yeah I really liked this film a lot. I think it’s the kind of film you can’t watch on your phone or you’ll miss some key points because The Luring doesn’t spoon-feed the audience, another reason why I liked it. My roommates did to. I recommend it. Maybe watch it again without associating The Luring with Stephen King..