I want to preface that I am a newbie when it comes to movies of the scary kind. I didn’t start watching horror movies until my mid-20s, and I am glad that I let this genre into my heart, as at its core, the movies can make you feel every emotion in their usually short runtime. Horror movies are more than just the scare; they tell stories that can take you to a dark place and drag you right out of it with something hilarious or gut-wrenching. The new addition to the Quiet Place series was definitely the latter.
If you haven’t seen the movie yet, please go and watch it at your local cinema (or rent online if you can) it really does make a difference, especially with horror movies and indie movies that do not get as much love as the more mainstream movies out there.
We can start off with a little speed run of the first two movies here, as I watched them in the last 2 weeks to be ready for the prequel. Why pick up this movie series, I hear you ask? Joseph Quinn; and I am NOT afraid to admit that. His character work, as Eddie, is something I think about on a weekly basis still. I was excited to see what he would bring to the franchise; alongside the fabulous Lupita Nyong’o, who has already become a horror legend with her work on “Us,” which was such a great movie.
The first installment in the series introduces characters that will stay with us in the sequel. (apart from Dad, sorry!) It introduced the concept of the movies pretty quickly, and pretty harshly, with the death of the small child in the family in the first part. A standout scene for me was the nail in the foot, which sounds as horrible as it was. However, I do have a problem with why Mom and Dad chose to make another child after the death of their other child. A significant amount of time had passed, so it couldn’t have been something accidental. How did they think it was going to work with no noise being allowed at all? I think it was a pretty silly move.
The second movie lets us see Day 1 of the outbreak in the town the main characters are from, and we are introduced to a family friend who is living alone due to the death of his wife. He begins to help the older girl with her mission to rid the world of these big-eared monsters. I was glad that we could see how someone else was able to keep going with the use of a furnace, as not everyone, I’m sure, was able to live on a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. A problem with this movie was this: why was no one trying to stick together? A lot of bad things that went down wouldn’t have happened without this, so I suppose they got their skills from Scooby Doo.
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Finally, we can move on to the main event. I was surprised to see the man from the second movie’s island paradise in the prequel, which got the cogs turning for me about the ending of the movie pretty much as soon as I saw him. While this is nothing new for me, it did show how small the world is, with main characters from all the movies interacting with the same person, even with them being miles apart. Alex Wolff from The Naked Brothers Band was also a great addition to the cast, and with him not being on the poster, I figured he would not last very long.
The angle with the main character Samira being in hospice care was very interesting, and I think made sense as she would want to just live the last part of her life in a happy place; because no apocalypse should stop someone having their last wish. Froyo the cat was a true star also, and I was very happy to see him survive, I suppose he didn’t use up all his nine lives just yet!
Now we can finally move on to Joseph’s character Eric, who again was such a great idea. We have seen locals deal with this new terror in the previous movies, but where have we seen in movies (or other horror movies) that being in the wrong place at the wrong time leaves you more lonely in the world out there?
Their dynamic throughout the movie was something that felt so real. Screaming in time with the storm to let out the frustration of dying even faster than you expected, and being without family is something that felt so right to me. It was also nice to hear more talking in the movies, as you got to hear the emotion of the situation as well as see the strategy of what someone could do with time to plan as we saw with the last family.
Eric’s scene where he is panicking about being near the monsters, being in the water, and feeling the pressure of the situation made me feel the same way, and I really felt for him every time he risked his life for something. (the cat, for one; medication, for the other)
I also want to make a special note of the scene in the jazz club, as it was utterly heart-breaking and again something you don’t see much of in horror. As everyone is getting chased around and fighting for their lives, you can forget to be with the people you have. Eric and Samira were able to share a special moment together, eating stale pizza and performing on the stage. I was expecting the piano to be involved, but I was glad they were able to have fun without it. Before long, they were able to form a connection, and Samira’s sacrifice at the end brings back my earlier point of horror movies being more than just scary; they are about fighting the big bad, but knowing you are not alone in that fight.
It’s a new dawn and day for horror movies, I hope, where we get to see more special moments during the storms and connect with the characters in a way that is so relatable.
Until next time, keep quiet my friends!