It’s common in horror films to see a slasher pursuing their a cowering victim who is paralyzed by terror. We love to see it and know too well the “cat and mouse” chase between the villain and the potential final girl. It’s more than just a chase; it’s a psychologically warped game where a single blunder signals for the end. The tension slowly builds peek as the killer reaches closer and closer to the prey. They’ll end their hunt in glorious victory, but then again, the question lies what if the chosen path spells doom? This set up draws on our instinctual dread of being preyed upon, all while making us thrilled at having the “mouse” outsmart the “cat.” From suspense, to nerves, and pure horror it’s magic! Definitely, not all movies manage to excels at what the rest of horror movies have done before.
Here at Macabre Daily, we had the chance to get together until we came across the newly released film “Go Away” which unfortunately we had to watch. This home invasion horror movie is put out by Terror Films Releasing and is included in their line of new horror films. The cast features horror legends Mathews, Rose, and Knight, with Kerr writing and directing the film. The synopsis for this movie is as follows:
“In the film, five intruders barge into a family gathering and uncommenting guests are sadistically played with, all the while the interlopers don’t fathom that maybe they themselves have some things to worry about.”
I cannot say that the mid-point capturing fright of the film manages to unnervingly capture my attention, but I can say that it provides a few cringe-worthy and outrageously embarrassing moments. The slasher genre has already crossed many of the excesses and has almost made parodies of themselves. “Go Away” takes a solid attempt at using the home invasion horror style and tries to give it a different spin. In attempts to bring something new to the outdated genre, it misses its mark entirely. Unfortunately, if one is a horror fan, there is more disappointment and gaping plot holes than satisfying the viewers.
Let’s discuss the story of “Go Away” first. The storyline tries to have some seriousness while trying to be suspenseful as well, which is all over the place. Their main act of focus, the home invasion, served as the main breadwinner while the rest of the movie tried to catch up with the plot. “Go Away”, is a movie that wants its audience to care about its characters and its scary situation, but gets lost in the plot itself. With all the ingredients of a movie in the mixture, including innocent civilians in danger, bursting threats around, and high stakes, this movie fails to impress.
The story fundamentally does not attempt to augment these elements more engaging than a primary premise by attempting to strengthen the 2nd and 3rd act but completely improvising it. The plot proceeds in a way where the main character seems to be doing everything just for the purposes of doing it, and some actions could make sense in a TMNT movie but none of them really are that engaging, in particular because the horror is too nuanced rather than allowing some aspects of it to rest within the audience’s creativity. And the twist at the end of the movie does not even follow logically. This attempt gives the impression that the writer simply dropped all convenient explanations, with no intention of using them for anything worthwhile.
One of the most puzzling decisions is how “Go Away” seems to have overlooked horror icons such as Thom Mathews, Felissa Rose, and Tuesday Knight. Here we have a chance to utilize veteran horror actors who could add some intelligence and gravitas to the film, but they are barely used. These actors have significantly contributed to the genre over decades, yet they are featured as mere background and side characters with little to say. It is as if they are only there to add glamour or heft to the movie, when in fact their presence does nothing to enhance the film’s storyline. For a work that could appreciate this genre’s history, especially when there are so many fans wishing to see their idol horror actors perform, this is highly disappointing.
Like the newer actors in the movie, these veterans were not able to elevate the film’s entertainment value. Unlike seasoned horror actors, they certainly do not possess the charisma or the ability needed to tell the story. The movie is slow, and so poorly paced that it becomes somewhat tedious to watch. And the actors, it seems, are not able to emote fear in a believable manner, so who really cares about what happens to their characters?
Like many other horror films, Goya relies heavily on props, make up costumes, and special effects to create a dreadful atmosphere. It is not only the addition of the newer actors that fails, but the attempt to amalgamate the actors into the plot is a failing point by itself. At least the gore events like the neck slashing and stabbings look like they were done by a child as one can imagine the money the producers must have spent. One can easily say that the face cutting off scene was done with a little bit of effort hence we will grant them that, but every other scene involving special effects just lacks that scare value magic and is instead turned into a joke.
Similar to other movies I’ve mentioned on this blog, “Go Away” has some huge ideas and aspirations but isn’t able to make them work. The premise is itself is interesting a modern twist to classic horror films, but neither the writing nor the acting power nor the props nor special effects are strong enough to hold the plot together. They seem to have taken the movie a little too seriously as well and tried to heighten the suspense which ultimately was not achieved. It feels more like a hack of a hack horror movie rather than a refreshing one.
For fans of slashers and other freighting flicks featuring their go-to actors, this movie can come off as rather disappointing. It incoherently tries to convey a story and induce scares which is very upsetting for horror enthusiasts. True hardcore horror lovers will likely find the self seriousness of the film laughable, but for those hoping for real thrill or something new within the genre, this movie should probably be left on the shelf to gather dust.
“Go Away” from Terror Films Releasing is set to premier on multiple platforms on December 6th including Tubi TV, Chilling, Scare Network TV, Kings of Horror, and Watch Movies Now, among countless others. Degenerate with us at Macabre Daily for deeper dives into well-known and not-so-well-known horror films.
To watch more movies like GO AWAY (2024) visit hurawatch.