Becky Review

I’ve been gearing myself up to watch more horror films recently. The primitive fears I had as a child have been overwhelmed by a far greater feeling of boredom, the outputs of the genre so far have been loose on horror and lather mediocrity on rather thick. While I needed a break from franchise films after the clunky A Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise, I looked to modern horror, usually a ridiculous, dangerous, stupid thing to do. But with the recent release of Becky, I felt rather comfortable knowing that Kevin James was leading the way, finally featuring in something that wasn’t an awful comedy piece.  

Committing crimes nearly as bad as that of his hand in Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Kevin James paves the way in a surprisingly villainous turn as a murderous neo-Nazi with a thirst for blood and a rather impressive beard. His portrayal is honestly rather impressive. Many comedians who find themselves trapped in rather conventional, awful comedy films manage to turn in rather enjoyable dramatic roles. James is no exception to this pattern, his role as Dominick is a grasp at the notions of horror being found in the most basic of premises. Escaping from a prison transfer, he terrifies the life of our titular character, played by Lulu Wilson. Her leading performance is exceptional, one that is mired by the more run-of-the-mill moments, but with an execution that keeps Wilson’s head above water. Wilson and Joel McHale have some strong chemistry together, another comedian who turns in a surprisingly strong performance. 

With performances that manage to overcome the more primitive moments of the basic premise on hand, Becky is a film that manages to convey a sense of emotional attachment from the get-go. It doesn’t try and re-invent the wheel, but it offers up a firmly crafted narrative that has some nice pacing, balanced well on a leading performance that blends a grief-stricken teenager with the general brattishness expected from this age. It’s not a pungent character, and it’s nice to see how well our protagonist adapts to increasingly tense and traumatic moments. There is some amazing gore throughout, it’ll be enough to make the average horror fans stomach churn. Generally unique and horrifying scenes blend together with a nice soundtrack that keeps the tense moments together with surprising conviction and sincerity.  

As much a psychological thriller as it is a comfortably well-made slasher, Becky manages to build-up interesting characters thanks to a recognisable cast, and exceptionally simplistic work in building interesting villains and likeable leading characters. I never would have expected this from the men that directed Cooties and Bushwick, but surprises can be found around every corner in this gory horror flick. Really well made, not overstaying its welcome, and a hell of a lot of fun, Becky is a prime example of how great pacing and exceptional character development can be detrimental to the success of the modern horror film.