Barbarian: Worth the Scare

Truly frightening and unique horror movies are hard to come by in this age of remakes and sequels. The movie theaters seem to always be showing some form of “Halloween”or “Friday the 13th”and replaying the old classics. For those who are constantly on the prowl for a new and horrifying movie, you’ve got to check out “Barbarian”. “Barbarian”is a new and exciting horror movie that hit theaters on Sept. 9, 2022. 

This film follows the main character, Tess, as she comes into Detroit for a job interview and rents an Airbnb for the weekend to get her through the few days she’s in town. When she arrives, Tess is faced with the fact that the front door seems to be locked and the key is not where the host said it would be. After knocking on the door and banging on the lock in a frustrated haze, a man opens the door with a confused look on his face. We later learn that his name is Keith and he has rented the same Airbnb for the same dates Tess has. In an effort to make it through the night, Keith offers Tess the bedroom and sleeps on the couch so that they can figure out the booking in the morning when they aren’t both so tired. At this point in the movie, you can tell that there is something peculiar going on, and Keith may not be as innocuous as he seems. 

Tess has a bit of a restless night since she is very aware of the fact she is sleeping in a home with a stranger. By the morning, Tess feels some sort of reassurance that she is safe since Keith is gone and left a note, so she is free to get ready and go to her interview without a hiccup. Once she gets back from her interview, she finds herself in the basement of the Airbnb discovering a hidden room behind a moving wall. She races upstairs to warn Keith. Not believing it until he sees it, Keith walks downstairs and goes into the wall hallway with Tess anxiously waiting upstairs. After a few minutes, Tess begins to shout for Keith to come back upstairs. 

When there is no response, she walks down the stairs herself and goes deeper into the cave-like hallway to find an even more complex hidden passageway. What seems to be pulling her in deeper is the periodic pleas of help that she can hear Keith screaming from somewhere deep in the passage. Within a few seconds, the threat is introduced and the viewer gets an idea of just how much danger Tess is in. 

Since I do not want to give the meat of the story away, I’ll stop my summary there and let you know what I thought of this film. In my opinion, this is one of the best horror movies that I have ever seen. I am someone who enjoys horror movies while still being thoroughly frightened by them, and yet I still found enjoyment through the fear while watching this movie. The story that is presented in this film is truly captivating and I could not get myself to get up and leave the theater, no matter how scared I got, because I had to know what happened next. This movie has one of the best monster reveals that I have seen, in my opinion, and I cannot get it out of my head. The monster reveal is so jarring simply because it is completely unique, being that I don’t feel it has been used in any horror movie to date. This feels like the kind of movie that our generation will be telling our children about and something that we will think about for decades to come. 

The thing that sets this movie apart from the others is the fact that the terror that the main character feels stays with you for weeks after you watch it. The situation that is presented in this story is one that is plausible but not something that could happen to everyone, which is what makes it so scary. If you are someone who finds themselves disappointed by the run-of-the-mill horror movies that have been coming out recently, look no further and make sure to check out “Barbarian”to have your film cravings quenched.