Back at it for another year of reviewing 31 horror movies I haven’t watched before in 31 days. Starting off the beginning of the month with a mini-theme of some female led horror but mostly just some bigger name movie to come out recently that I missed. Starting out with possibly the biggest one that I have been waiting to watch, The Substance. It’s not often a horror movie gets any sort of actual mainstream reward show recognition and even less likely that it gets multiple nominations including Best Picture. Went into this one with some pretty high expectations.

Our story starts focused on Elisabeth Sparkle, an actress that had been famous in her youth but now that she is turning 50, she is being fired from her show and dumped by her agency. Distraught and depressed, she is contacted by some unknown group that says she can have a younger, more beautiful version of herself by using The Substance. She eventually caves and decides to use it and it ends up splitting her into two versions of herself, with only one that can be conscious for a week at a time. Now the young, sexy Sue is getting Elisabeth’s old TV show and so much more but what happens when the tension between the two halves increases and Sue wants more than every other week? Some fucking crazy shit, that’s what.

While not exactly the most subtle of movies, I can see why this one in particular would get recognition from the Academy. The very stark double standards for men versus women in the entertainment industry, especially in regards to age and looks, are made grotesquely prominent in the film. The way in which women in particular will be encouraged to seek out things like extensive plastic surgery that can leave them looking almost uncanny when there was nothing wrong with them in the first place is mirrored in the way Elisabeth can’t stop what’s happening even when she can see how it is destroying her. The scene of Demi Moore’s Elisabeth preparing to go on a date but constantly comparing herself to Sue is heartbreaking and probably why she got the Best Actress nod.

The film also works as a straight up gory, body horror film that slowly escalates to an absolutely bonkers climax. There is a reason that for all the Oscars it got nominated for, what it actually won was Best Make-Up. The emotional core of the film and the amazing acting and screenwriting mean you are engaged with it but there are some absolutely gnarly effects that range from making you wince and go “oh damn ouch” to laughing nervously and looking around like “what the fuck am I watching?”

I don’t think this one is as monumentally amazing as I might have hoped but it was still very good and incredibly fun to watch. Best version of Jekyll & Hyde I’ve seen.

Score: 4.5 out of 5