Now I won't lie, I wasn't particularly interested in seeing this documentary mostly because I really disliked his previous project, The Nightmare, and only half remember enjoying Room 237 (because conspiracy theories, duh)- which is probably why I didn't rush to see Primal Screen when it was released on Shudder.
I've been a little quiet around here lately, my apologies! I'm sure you all can understand that Thanksgiving week is always a cluster of family, food, and madness. I'm happy to say that we came out of alive; 10 lbs heavier, but alive.
Ash and I have a new episode of HORROR HUDDLE coming at ya by tomorrow, but until then I'll post the links to my latest reviews over at www.horrormoviesuncut.com. Give them a read and show some support for their awesome site!
Both screeners from Toronto's Blood In The Snow film festival:
I first heard about the disappearance of Johnny Gosch on a podcast a couple of years ago. What caught me about it was that it was relatively unknown for me, so I didn't feel like I was hearing about something that had been rehashed over and over on other platforms, and because this case is like a cornucopia of conspiracy, police ineptitude, multiple missing children, and just general mystery.
Currently on Netflix, Who Took Johnny (2014) delves into the (now) 34 year old missing persons case of 12 year old Johnny Gosch . The documentary's focus is Johnny's mother, Noreen, who has spent the last three decades trying to uncover what happened to her son.
I don't want to give a whole lot about the film away for you readers who haven't heard anything about the case, but I highly recommend this one. Especially if you have an affinity for conspiracies and true crime. It's equal parts crazy and heartbreaking because at the end of the day, a boy went missing and no one knows who is at fault. Families were destroyed and to make it worse, Johnny's disappearance wasn't the only one that occurred in that area around that time (which is briefly covered during the documentary). That's where the film starts to take a turn into sketch-land.
Disappearance and conspiracies aside, the film reveals how poorly the police handled the disappearance. Whether it was unwillingness or inexperience, the Des Moines PD dropped the ball in the first hours of Johnny's disappearance (and for a long time afterwards), and it's very evident. It's not hard to become a little mad and ultra-suspicious of what exactly happened in this whole tale.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who's terrified of old folks, right? And I don't mean your sweet, wise, grandparents who give you those weird watermelon hard candies and make inappropriate jokes when you're around large groups of people. I mean the old people who don't know where the fuck they're at and just generally act like they've been taken over by some brittle-boned-loving demon. M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit will seriously make you reconsider spending time with those grandparents that you just don't see often enough.
