Directed by: Josh Ruben
Starring: Josh Ruben, Aya Cash, Chris Redd
Written by: Josh Ruben
Runtime: 1h 44m (104m)
Rating: N/A
Our Rating: ★★★
Oh, the meta of it all. When you decide to wink at the audience and be self-aware of the many horror troupes available to you, you also must strike a careful balance. Or your film can become annoying and more camp than the situation calls for. Scare Me does indeed wink at the audience and to the aspiring horror writers out there as well. Or dare I say writers in general. Fred seems to be a bit of a procrastinator. For those of you who have not heard some writers are procrastinators, by some writers I mean me. I am some writers.
Fred (Josh Ruben, CollegeHumor), a frustrated copywriter, checks into a winter cabin to start his first novel. While jogging in the nearby woods, he meets Fanny (Aya Cash, “You’re The Worst” “The Boys”), a successful and smug young horror author who fuels his insecurities. During a power outage, Fanny challenges Fred to tell a scary story. As a storm sets in, they pass the time spinning spooky tales fueled by the tensions between them, and Fred is forced to confront his ultimate fear: Fanny is the better storyteller. The stakes are raised when they’re visited by a horror fan (Chris Redd, “Saturday Night Live”) who delivers levity (and a pizza) to the proceedings.
When we first meet Fred, you see he is the pretty standard guy. Even Fred’s name is generic, and we soon find out so is his writing. In a foreshadowing moment in the first scene of the film Fred is already being upstaged by his Uber driver. Her few minutes of interaction honestly were more exciting than the scenes with just Fred that follows. Of course, this is one purpose, hat tip to Josh Ruben on the character development. Then we are introduced to Fanny, his far more engaging, interesting counterpart. She is a woman of now. And, most importantly she is a successful author. The setup of the two of them being stuck in a cabin with no power is perfect.
Let the games begin. Wait, that is a trite phrase – much like Fred’s synopsis of the novel he is “working” on. Fanny points this out to him repeatedly. The narratives each of them tell are good, but Fanny’s are better, once again emphasizing she is the better writer. But scary they are not, yet creative. This is the entire premise of Scare Me. Instead of having actual carnage on camera it is all off camera, making us viewers rely on your imagination. Much like reading or listening to an audio book. Again, on purpose, serenading the craft of writing – good writing, another hat tip to Josh.
The performances by all the actors involved are stellar for a small film, with one prominent setting. The actors all manage to portray their perspective characters in a fun and entertaining way. Hat tips to Chris Redd (plays the pizza guy) and Rebecca Drysdale (plays Uber driver) because they both make the most of less screen time than Ruben and Cash.
As stated, there is not an actual body count and the blood is minuscule as far as horror goes. However, there is some discomfort in the last scenes of the movie, that gets pretty dark. Horror comedies are gradually becoming one of my favorites, sub genres. And let’s face it in 2020 we need all the kiki’s we can get. Scare Me does this job fairly well. Is it perfect, absolutely not, I think about 15 minutes could have been shaved off the 1 hour 44 minute runtime. However, this film is smart, it is entertaining, it’s a modern horror comedy.
HorrorFatale.com says watch it!
Scare Me streams October 1st on a Shudder account near you.