Last Night in Soho Review
The idea alone left me somewhat skeptical, mostly because Mr. Wright hadn’t tackled this genre since Shaun of the Dead. Yet as I watched it little by little it occurred to me: He could make a movie where the premise was reading a phone book into something wildly entertaining. It also occurred to me that this was a kind of horror I hadn’t held interest in for almost two decades now: psychological horror. I remember holding an interest in it because, unlike traditional horror, psychological horror was a more grounded yet relatable type of horror at the time. Of course since it has been a while the only ones that may come to mind today are Stephen King adaptations The Shining and 1408. The idea in general starts off as something akin to Suspiria or The Neon Demon in terms of a girl being welcomed into something academic that turns out to be more gruesome underneath the surface. Yet as it goes along, once the red herrings are placed out of the way by the end of the second act, I couldn’t help but get a Neil Gaiman on steroids vibe in terms of how his common denominator of premises (or tropes, unless I’m misusing the term) is organized. One trait that I couldn’t help but admire was how even as some scenes are clearly made with CGI, Mr. Wright proves how he’s aware of this and remixes this gimmick in a way that makes it visually interesting (nearly akin to what he did in Scott Pilgrim) especially as a horror movie. Plus the 60s throwback vibe, teeter tottering with the present day, added an interesting flavor to the atmosphere.