Scare Me (2020) Review
Let’s get this straight… Josh Ruben’s Werewolves Within is one of the best horror movies of 2021. So when I was offered the chance to watch Ruben’s debut feature Scare Me, I jumped at the chance.
Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint and in many ways, this much smaller scale horror movie is just as innovative and original as the larger budget film that followed it. Both are perfect combinations of scares and laughs, both play with the genre and both contain werewolves… sort of.
Written, directed by and starring Josh Ruben, Scare Me sees the real life triple-threat playing less deadly triple-threat Fred – a wannabe writer who has rented a cabin in the woods to get his paper-thin werewolf revenge story down in draft.
While out jogging in the snowy wilderness near his holiday home he bumps into Fanny The Boys (Aya Cash), a very accomplished horror author who is taking time out after the success of her zombie novel ‘Venus’ to recharge and write in the remote setting.
Not hitting it off at first, the pair become more acquainted when a power outage forces them to spend the night in Fred’s dark, candle-lit cabin. Desperate to pass the time, Fanny proposes they tell each other scary stories, starting with the lycanthropic action thriller Fred is currently working on.
Egged-on by the renowned scribe to ‘spook her by any means necessary’, Fred takes to the floor, acting out his shaggy wolf tale with aplomb. Thus begins a night of nonsensical nightmares and fright-filled fables where the only limits are the minds of the storytellers themselves.
Working like a filmic version of a campfire story session, Ruben’s movie is shockingly simple but stunningly effective with the majority of the film not only taking place in the one location but also with only two actors.
In fact, there are only four cast members in the whole piece, with Key and Peele comedy writer Rebecca Drysdale playing a hilarious oddball cab driver and Saturday Night Live’s Chris Redd as the pizza guy, who joins the central double act midway through for food, drugs and more scary tales.
A tour de force for all involved, Ruben and Cash are especially amazing, giving sensational performances and captivating the viewer with their narrative powers. They act out numerous insane plot lines revolving around creepy grandads, blood thirsty trolls, demon possessed singers and more… Always brilliantly bringing every element to life.
During the eerie evening there is a very real tension taking place as issues of gender politics, true talent and ‘who deserves success more’ are played out between the screams. There is never a dull moment as the films switches seamlessly between comedy, drama and terror as the narrators interact, intervene and improvise, meaning the audience has no idea what might come next.
All of this is helped along by shadow play and minimal props which bring certain sections of their stories into the real world, as well as some extremely innovative sound design which enhances the atmosphere using sound effects and noises that are minimal but immensely evocative.
Playing with our perception and the cliches and conventions of horror movies as a whole, Scare Me is also cleverly about the creative process. Arguments between Fred and Fanny flair up at first when there is talk of sharing their unwritten concepts with a fear of one defrauding the other and although this doubt quickly disappears after enough drink and drugs have been consumed it interestingly rears its ugly head again in the final reel.
Funny and frightening, laughable and tragic, Scare Me is unlike any other horror movie proving further why Josh Ruben is a tremendous talent that everyone in the horror industry should keep their eye on.
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