PopHorror Let's Get Scared
By now, many of you have read our list of films we consider to be the horror highlights of 2016. While the past year featured numerous titles with mixed reviews and a handful that were deemed outstanding within the horror community, there have been some horrible films that would have been better if left unconceived. One such film scraped from the bottom of the 2016-barrel of horror is Marcello Daciano’s The Bride.
When Marco (Charles Campos) and his bride-to-be, Kira (Henriette Riddervold), arrive at a secluded cabin, their getaway is crashed by a small group of home invaders. Intending to abduct Kira for ransom, the would-be kidnapper’s plans take an ugly turn when their target unexpectedly fights back. Marco is killed and his bride-to-be is repeatedly raped and murdered. However, when Kira is resurrected by the curse of a vengeful spirit that suffered the same fate in life, the bride proceeds to stalk and exact her revenge on the men responsible for her death.
It should come as no surprise if this plot summary sounds familiar. This concept was done in 1994 with Alex Proyas’ The Crow and in 1978 with Meir Zarchi’s I Spit on Your Grave. Unfortunately, The Bride pales in comparison to these two successful titles. Some people may blame the poor quality on the estimated low budget of $1,000,000. Having seen horror films with lower estimated budgets, money does not necessarily make the movie. Classic horror films such as Carpenter’s Halloween and Raimi’s The Evil Dead, both having less than half of the budget backing The Bride, found major success despite low financing. Of course, time lapse and monetary inflation should be taken into consideration. However, there are countless big budgeted studio films that have crashed and burned proving that money cannot always compensate for quality storytelling and creativity.
Having borrowed the storyline of The Crow and I Spit on Your Grave, the story is one of the few commendable elements of The Bride. The special effects also receive’s an “E” for effort displaying some creativity with graphics seen in many upstanding B-movies. With a cast of unknown names, Riddervold stands out in her role as Kira, which drives the acting element in this feature. Virtually everything else is a disastrous failure.
Featuring over dramatic soap opera scenes, flat characters, an oddly placed accent from Marco and little to no backstory, much is left unexplained with character motives and relations. One loose implication that is made is race serving as a motive for the kidnappers with Marco potentially being foreign and the team of kidnappers possibly being driven by white supremacy ideology. However, there is no direct evidence other than Marco’s name, accent, and a rant by one kidnapper suggesting white power beliefs randomly thrown in the middle of the film.
This list barely scratches the surface of what makes The Bride unwatchable. With poor camera angles and sound that randomly fades in and out, production quality serves as an annoying distraction constantly reminding you that you’re watching a piece of garbage. Perhaps the only thing that could have saved this film from being a complete waste of time is adding a comedic aspect taking itself less seriously.
Final Thoughts:
Having rented this from Redbox with a promotional cost of $1.00, I was left resisting the urge to demand a refund. At this time, The Bride has no ranking on Rotten Tomatoes and it has generously earned 3.2 stars on IMDB. Unable to resurrect the 82 minutes of my life I wasted, this feature quite possibly tops my list for worst horror films of 2016.
