JP Nunez
The way I see it, there are essentially two kinds of good horror films. On the one hand, you have the movies you tend to get from people like Jordan Peele, Guillermo del Toro, and Ari Aster. Their films often have great stories, Oscar-level directing, and deep metaphorical meanings. They’re first and foremost good movies, so they can appeal to a wide audience beyond the hardcore horror community. And on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, you have films like Morgue. Here’s the official plot synopsis:
“After a harrowing accident, the perpetually down-on-his-luck Diego Martinez accepts a gig as a security guard at the local morgue. He thought he’d had a lucky break, but as the night wears on, eerie occurrences and the suddenly not-quite-lifeless body of the victim leave him to wonder: how much otherworldly rage does it take to wake the dead?”
Unlike the more “elevated” genre fare that respectable cinephiles usually gravitate towards, Morgue seems like a straight-up spookfest made for genuine horror fans. The premise of a guy in a haunted morgue is about as basic as you can get, and the trailer doesn’t deviate from that setup for a single frame. It spends about twenty seconds introducing you to the main character and the setting, and then it’s all scares the rest of the way.
It doesn’t bother with plot, narrative, or characters beyond the absolute bare minimum, and I love it. As much as I enjoy deep movies that have something to say, there are plenty of times when I just want to sit down and scare myself silly, and Morgue looks like it’s going to let me do just that.
The trailer features a solid mix of reliable horror tropes and creepy new tricks, and both are pretty effective. The more cliché scares (like the guy being dragged by an invisible force) are executed well enough that the lack of originality isn’t a problem, and the new ones have me excited for what else this movie has in store for us.
I especially like the scene where the ghost runs across the tables almost as if it’s being fast forwarded. It reminds me of the way Pennywise often runs at his victims in Andy Muschietti’s It movies, but it’s different enough that I don’t recall ever having seen it done quite this way.
All in all, Morgue looks like a scary good time that any fan of supernatural horror would eat up, so you’re definitely going to want to mark your calendars for this one. It hits theaters and VOD on May 11, and I for one can’t wait to see it.
So what do you think of the trailer for Morgue? Do you agree with JP that it promises a scary good time? Let us know in the comments!
