It was 2 in the morning, I was awake, bored, and scrolling through Netflix for something to watch. I knew I wanted horror. I mean, it is spooky season, isn’t it? But I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to watch, just that I wanted something different. Over the past month, I have been watching a lot of horror films based on the paranormal. Stories of ghost hunting teams searching through haunted houses and creepy demons running around, causing havoc.
So, when I came across the Netflix Original film, Eli, I was intrigued. It seemed like it was going to be something different. From the trailer and summary, I expected a Medical horror story, which I knew would be absolutely terrifying for me. I have latrophobia, which is a fear of doctors and hospitals. This movie was sure to be one of the scariest things I would watch this month. However, Instead of medical horror, I got something so different and so unexpected, and not in a good way.
Rating: 4/10 Stars
Content Warning: Contortion, latrophobia/medial
This film started out with so much mystery. I have been watching so many paranormal movies lately, it was refreshing to watch something and have no idea what was happening. To actually start a film and not know immediately the structure it is going to fall into was really refreshing. The main character, Eli, is a kid with a mysterious illness that doesn’t allow him to be in the normal atmosphere. We open on Eli and his family driving to a mysterious medical facility, to a doctor with a possible cure to this ailment. That is where the information stops, and the rest is learned throughout the rest of the movie.
Right from the start of the film, I felt a connection to the main character. It is so easy to root for someone who just wants a normal life and can’t because of something he can’t control. We see Eli getting bullied because he has to wear a suit to protect himself from the environment. Eli is the underdog, and I automatically hoped for his survival. It is rare for me to feel connected to characters in horror films, so this was nice.
From the start, there was intrigue. I think the concept of the movie is very interesting and definitely unique. I was hooked to the screen as the family arrives at the facility, and Eli begins his “treatments.” I was curious about where the story was going and how it would turn out for the family.
Around the halfway point in the film, the creators began throwing in a couple of classic horror movie visuals and ghosts. I was so down for this, and actually excited when I saw them despite not wanting to watch a paranormal film.
However, very soon after, the creators lost me. The horror elements just came in by the truckloads, every turn Eli makes, there is a ghost or an evil doctor. It didn’t seem to stop, and there was no point for the viewer to rest. It also made it even more unrealistic than a horror movie should be, and I started to roll my eyes every time another ghost showed up.
And the movie continued to go downhill from here. I won’t go into detail just in case you still want to watch it, but things just get weirder and weirder. And the confusion that sometimes accompanies these types of movies was just way too prominent. I spent the majority of the second half of the film with my eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and the rest of the time I was just laughing at how ridiculous it was. The “plot twist” at the end was a little… too bizarre to swallow.
Overall, this was not my favorite scary movies that I have watched this season. I appreciated what the film creators were trying to do, which was truly unique, but the execution was just not there to hold it up.
I still cannot believe that the end of October is already here. I am both baffled and amazed. But I am also really proud because that means we are so close to the end of Blogtober. Despite all my talk in August and September about how prepared I was going to be for this month, and how I was going to write all my posts in advance, that did not happen. Here I am, writing this post the same day it is going to be posted. That is the definition of the last minute. But that’s okay! Because I have been successful so far, and I am planning on finishing out this month strong!
Have you watched Eli yet? What were your thoughts on the movie? Have any good unique horror movie recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments below!
