31 Films for Halloween, #26: Velvet Buzzsaw

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Velvet Buzzsaw is a satire of the contemporary art scene, in the form of a gory horror movie.  It's not merely unrealistic but surrealistic. When the works of a reclusive misanthropic painter are discovered are put on sale, against his posthumous wishes, they empower other artworks to take revenge on the art world types who are insincerely capitalizing on the late artist's tragedy.

Rhetorical question: has Toni Collette ever played anyone nice or even just... normal?

It's got high production values and a stacked cast (Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, John Malkovitch, Tom Sturridge, Daveed Diggs).


It even has one of my favorite pieces:
"Death of a Mauve Bat" (1967).

The kills are bizarre and imaginative and delightfully ironic (as are the victims).  All good art is dangerous, it seems to say, so be careful when treating it simply as a commodity. It's a film with no villains... but no heroes, either.  

So thought it was too campy to be scary and too scary to be campy; if it had been made in an earlier era, it would have starred Vincent Price. 

Who, somehow, would have made a fortune off it.

For me, it fell right near the sweet spot between the two, and I recommend it as good "comfort horror". 

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