What's the deal with Skinamarink, anyway? 

One thing I really like about the jumpscares in this movie is that they don't have the regular tension-relieving pace of regular horror jumpscares. The slowness of the film worked in its favor here, I think. Usually, you expect a film to build up to a scare, signpost when it's about to drop, drop it, and let you relax until the next one comes up. Skinamarink only had one of those that I can point to (the thing under the bed), but even that one and all the other scares weren't exactly very relenting in terms of pace bc nothing about the movie is paced conventionally, so you really have no idea if it's going to throw another one at you soon afterwards. Not to mention that the horror is not shown so directly as to relieve the centre in your brain that's freaking out about the unknown, so you end up asking yourself "what the hell was that?!" instead of being able to relax until the next scare.

This is a great take. I was pretty underwhelmed by the entire experience BUT, I also really appreciate it. They tried some really interesting things that I hope can lead to incredible horror films that take inspiration from this movie. It’s weird being able to see exactly why people can consider this the most terrifying thing they’ve ever seen OR the most boring thing they’ve ever seen. I’ll never see it again but I’m glad it exists

i saw skinamarink alone in the front row of a dingy theater. it was absolutely terrifying for me. someone on letterboxd brought it up, and i think it’s essential to mention abuse. as a survivor of child abuse i can 100% say that feeling of dread is all too familiar to what used to be my every day.

This movie totally transfixed me when I saw it in a theater last week. There were about 50 other people there with me but I was so caught up in the visual language of the movie that I barely even registered how the rest of the audience was reacting. I can say for sure that while this film is about 20 mins too long, it's also the only film I've ever had to watch ~30 mins of from behind my hands. It got under my skin and really rocked me! It's really hard to recommend, though. I can't think of anyone I know who I can for sure say would enjoy the experience of watching this movie... and that's rad!

I liked it. I think you have to go into it knowing that it's not going to be your "typical" horror film and just allow yourself to succumb to the experience of it all. As you said, even in the theater, the environment became an extension of the film. Every shift in a seat, cough, dropping of keys became a part of the immersive experience. It genuinely feels like a childhood nightmare and it allows the viewer's imagination to run wild with that. There's enough to it for you to put pieces together and think that you may have completed the puzzle but you can never really trust your own analysis because it is so dreamlike and unreliable. As a person who doesn't really like jump scares in horror movies, these were so authentically terrifying that I'd have to say they are perhaps some of my favorite ever put to film. Also, as a child of he 70's and as a person who lived through the 90's, there's a real nostalgia factor that is incredibly effective in Skinamarink. That being said, my teenaged son absolutely loved it as he's a fan of the analogue horror trend. I feel like this is going to prompt a lot of copycats and that could be a good thing or it could be really annoying. Either way, Skinamarink is a special, immersive and original. It may have been done to some extent on RU-vid but bringing it to the big screen takes it to a whole new level. I really enjoy slow horror but I wouldn't even put this movie into that category. It's something different and as my son said, "it's pretty good nightmare fuel".

I went into it having seen Ball's short film Heck prior, so I more or less knew what to expect for Skinamarink. My sister however went in blind. She hates horror and I love it and when watching in theaters, on a fundamental level, this movie managed to reduce us both to an equal state of tension and fear and there is something incredibly talented in that. I haven't felt like that when watching a horror movie since I was in middle school and I cried watching just the trailer for Woman in Black. The fact that I for the first time since I was, in essence, a child reduced to that level of childlike dread was something I will always remember. I am so so so happy i went to go watch Skinamarink in theaters

The deal is that it's my favorite horror movie

The jump-scares were probably my least favourite aspect. For a movie that's supposedly "experimental" it has a few too many moments that feel as though they're pandering to current audiences' expectations of the horror genre.

I watched this movie at home alone late at night with headphones on. And I absolutely adored it. I totally understand anyone who says it’s slow and boring. However for me, that only added to the tense moments. Now I’m currently searching for more horror movies that capture the same essence. I’m not a big fan of slasher films and gore, so these haunting psychological scares are what I’m looking for. If anyone has any recommendations, please send them my way!

I learn new words everytime i watch your videos

Really lovely video essay, ended my watch w similar feelings as you (at home alone in the dark); it’s a film that’s much more interesting and exciting to talk about than it was to watch.

This movie should not be watched unless it's in surround sound; I didn't realise on my first watch how much the sound adds to the movie, it was terrifying on my second watch with surround sound headphones.

Edmonton represent

Trailer was scarier than the movie. I was so hype for it, only to be quite disappointed seeing it opening night, Friday the 13th. Not a single person in our group of 12 people liked it very much. There was a lot about it that I enjoyed, and I can appreciate the tension and build up, but I felt like everything interesting that happened was spaced too far apart. I've seen some very slow movies and really enjoyed them. Not really sure what didn't work for me with this one though. Thought the presentation, most of the shots, the concept, the noises, and the performances were quite effective, but for whatever reason it didn't grab me like I thought it would. I'm gonna try to watch it again, by myself with headphones on in the dark just to see if I feel any differently about it. I'm glad to hear most other people on here enjoyed it though

I loved it, I think it's a really impressive exercise and truly very emotive. That said, I was stoned watching it at home in the dark and kind of tripping lolol

Maybe I had the wrong childhood, but I found nothing even remotely scary about this one. I wanted to like it, and I don't regret buying my ticket to see it, but to me this one is most interesting as a sociological study in terms of why other people liked it so much and the discord between that and my own experience.

I really did like this movie it perfectly captured the extreme phobia of the dark I had when I was little. I also hope the director listens to the criticisms of the movie and can make something even better in the future.

I see a Taylor J Williams upload at 3am, I watch.

I respect Skinamarink as an experience and a novel concept for a film. It's very experimental in ways I appreciate. But the length is truly obscene for how much of it you spend staring at *nothing* and being unable to divine any of what is actually occurring in the narrative Then on the other end of the spectrum, the movie will sometimes go WAY too overboard and be much too direct. Like when the demon [SPOILERS] tells the kid to put the knife in their eye That shit made me cringe so hard I almost turned the film off. All of the dialogue with the parents and the demon was bad creepypasta level. Extraordinarily cringe. I think the film would have been better served overall by fully committing to the avant-garde philosophy that the best parts of it embrace. But overall, I still consider it to be a very impressive film, worth a watch for how unique it is if nothing else.

The movie was a great return on investment. 😅

The Menu is better, not as scary though

Terrible execution. Could've been a great movie. It wasn't. And I went deaf

I think this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

all well and good for the guy to make a movie about the imagination’s ability to conjure fears worse than reality, but he’s gotta show me SOMETHING… else I might as well just turn off the lights and close my eyes. have a real imaginative think to myself about spooky faces.

I personally didn't like it and ended up leaving the theater early lol

I hated this more than perhaps anything else I’ve ever seen in a theater, but I’m glad there are people who actually got something out of it.

I really liked it. Like you said, tone poem. I described it as an expressionist painting. If you're caught up in narrative or meaning, you're going to find yourself bored- but if you focus on affect, I think that's where it shines. However, everyone will get something different out of this movie, which means naturally that some people will leave frustrated and annoyed. Horror has always been deeply contingent on the culture it's experienced within, and I think with analogue horror, that contingency is intensified. Although I feel like any critique that is insulting the director's intelligence is unfair and mean-spirited.

Wish the horror was just a tad more expressive, but maybe that isn’t the point. Very glad this movie exists tho. Takes a lot of balls to release something like Skinamarink. Def feel like this will be a formative flick for some

I watched it alone, and I personally felt like that was the best way to watch it, I haven’t been this scared by a movie since I was a kid and I think that’s exactly what they were trying to achieve. I was a kid with anxiety(and now an adult with anxiety lol) and I remember being up at night alone a lot, I would see monsters on the ceiling in the dark, it was probably just my brain filling in the gaps in the near pitch black darkness but if you’d have asked me back then, I would have been adamant that they were goblins.

I think watching it in the theater was really effective. I went on my own and even though I felt like the loud jumpscares were a cheap trick at times, the things that stuck with me were all the other parts. The foreshadowing of the looping T.V. and that fate of Kevin (I think) is something that I've been thinking about ever since I left the theater.

I didn't like it. Movie completely lost my interest about 30-40 mins in. I was starting to fall asleep but It then fully devolved into a horrible movie theater experience as other people in the theater got bored and started talking and eating loudly. Only reason I didn't walked out of the screening was that I went to a more expensive theater than I usually do. Maybe if I had seen it at home I would have gotten a better experience. But I doubt it cause even before people stopped giving a damn and started talking and making noise, I was already getting bored and annoyed by the movie myself .

just get loaded that way you won’t be bored while starring at the screen

Handsome

Watched it at home and while I think it could have ideally been shaved to about 80 minutes, it really was effective. Dark room, noise-cancelling headphones… incredibly immersive. I really do want to make it to the theater to check it out before it leaves (not sure I will be able to) to compare the experiences. Although not perfect, damn is it cool to see something as good as it is AND for as small of a budget as it has be raking in a million at the box office. Makes me so incredibly happy. Also that ending shot/lines were absolutely terrifying and burned into my brain.

Thanks for this episode. It's been exciting watching and listening to all the talk about this movie. I liked Skinamarink very much. My imagination had a field day with it. Never experienced that kind of freedom in any other horror movie that I can think of. And the best part is the emergence of an exciting new director of horror. Really looking forward to what he does next.

you're the first reviewer I've seen to say "tone poem"

If you want to take it literal it’s about a monster that slowly takes over a family by stealing their faces in order to become whole or you take it metaphorically and it’s about children dealing with a divorce and how they feel alone and afraid during this time

I strongly feel that this movie does not need to be as long as it is. I was incredibly bored and frustrated. Perhaps it should have been a short film.

Ive watched it 6 times, twice in theaters. It is the perfect horror movie.

I'm super middle of the road on this movie, I think I expected it to be incredibly scary and I just felt kind of bored the whole time. Similar reactions from the people I viewed it with. I get what the director was going for in terms of tone and I think he did a great job, unfortunately doesn't change the fact that it turned out more boring than scary. I guess it doesn't help that a bunch of people in my theatre were laughing at a few points, kinda removed some of the tension. Also, as someone who's super familiar with youtube "analog horror" I noticed that it was where it was coming from right away, I've been more frightened by some of the shorter form content of this kind on youtube, which is disappointing. I understand that the long sequences were meant to build tension but I feel that they were too long, maybe there would be less boredom if the movie were at least a bit shorter.

I liked the movie quite a bit. It's the first time a movie had truly scared me since... well, as long as I can remember. My girlfriend and I watched it here in our home and it definitely had an after-scare effect. She began getting bothered by the dark because of that house-in-the-film-house-in-real-life connection. Also, she really didn't want to dangle her legs beyond the bed, especially after the "look under the bed" scene. 😂

For me, the scariest part of the movie was later that night when I got home and was alone at night and for the first time since I was a little kid, felt that fear of glancing out the window because I'm afraid I'll see something out there.

Just saw this last night, the gf & I were the only two people in the theater and they had the volume high as hell, I’ve been thinking about it all day.

I just saw this in the theater, and part of me wishes I'd just watched it at home. Maybe there's a subconscious part of me that expects a different kind of horror from a movie in the theater vs. something I watch on my phone, but I personally find this type of horror much more effective when I'm alone in my room at night. In a theater, there are other people around me (and sometimes you get stuck with those who can't shut up), and for me that takes the unease away. When I'm alone my brain is allowed to fill in more of the blanks and give in to the suggestion. Unfortunately because of this I left the theater feeling a little disappointed because I wasn't as scared as I'd hoped to be.

I like what u did on the right side of the screen…

I really want to see this movie, but I don’t see any way to watch it. Very unfortunate

100% AGREED

God, I love this movie so much. Truly my kind of horror; everything told through side-glances and in the margins. Everyone has compared it to House of Leaves and rightly, since it's about as close to a film adaptation of that book that could exist. Certainly not for everyone, but if you're sick of most modern horror being up-close and in your face, this was a refreshing breath of air.

It was good. I really liked it!

I appreciate that there are some interesting things going on stylistically, but Ball gets lost in the sauce as he abuses these choices until they're stripped of any sense of ingenuity or originality. Shots and "scenes" drag on for ages, as meaningful intent turns to a pretentious lethargy, and contribute to an already bloated runtime. Stretching Skinamrink's Powerpoint-like presentation into a full length feature is a war crime. The cheap jump scares and spooky imagery feel affected and as though they were included to pacify an audience the film wasn't intended for. The real "fear" here, or what Ball desperately wants you to feel, is derived from the audience's imagination, from finding apprehension in the liminal, in the indistinguishable and the ambiguous. The onus is on the audience to turn the paltry contents into something, anything interesting, however, it fails to establish the immersion necessary to facilitate this kind of engagement and ultimately feels like an AI driven visual white noise generator. Perhaps the most terrifying takeaway is that Skinamarink might inspire a trend of more painfully boring time wasters.

"Man fears most what they cannot see" - Ras Al Ghul You ever stick your hand in a dark box, knowing that there is something but you don't know what? Its a different kind of fear; thats what this movie attempts to tap into. But it wont work for everyone. I think it'll help if you have high patience, high focus, and the ability to allow yourself to get engrossed in the movie.

I was under the impression that it all took place within the mind of Kevin, the one who fell down the stairs. A child, damaging their head, would explain why there is an extreme lack of detail in the world they exist in. But that is also very boring, so I don't know. It should have remained a short film or an episode of an anthology rather than a full feature.

I saw it on opening weekend Friday the 13th. If you watch this film as someone who enjoys analog horror and experimental films than you'll enjoy the film. If you're looking for a traditional three act structure you probably won't. I liked it. Here's my impression: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k2qhkR06XHY.html

Skinamawhat? Where should I have heard of it? This is the first I have heard or seen anything about it? What bubble am I not part of?

God how you described the feeling of the jumpscares, perfect. Anyways 10/10 wonderfully strange hostage like movie would watch again.

It was very effective in the theater for me. I can’t imagine it being as impactful on my TV at home.

4:07 Totally true line of how I felt. Also a great sentence given the history of horror-theatre gimmicks.

I loved this movie. I'm glad to see someone getting it.

Upload

Im in the minority, I did not care much for the movie. I watched it in two parts as I got disinterested (and had class). So I stopped and finished it later. Not a fan.

I was holding my breath the entire runtime but I agree that it was slow. It really worked for me and was one of the scariest movie theater experiences I’ve had.

First movie I ever walked out on. Even the jumpscares people are so terrified of didn't even phase me because I was so bored I was probably asleep and woke up because there was a noise. I know its harsh but I truly never want this director to ever work ever again. UNLESS in the future he writes a script with a story

I think the director is kind of dumb? Thinks Fleischer cartoons are inherently creepy and is obsessed with the idea of “hauntological” settings but does nothing with them. I think a big part of what makes this scary for some people is contingent on being raised in North American suburbia and frankly as someone who was it didn’t wow me. Found the whole thing very superficial and banal. Analog media is not in and of itself scary. Wish this dude could do something beyond formal experimentation and make this more frightening and emotionally compelling than this

I watched this home alone at 11 PM in a dark living room and i can't imagine watching the film any other way it was a harrowing hypnotic viewing experience. I can't imagine a theater, with all it's potential for distraction providing anything similar in terms of suture