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By Robert Scucci
| Published
The most effective horror films play to our fear of the unknown, and I can’t think of a film that creates feelings of unease quite like 2022. Skinmark. With hardly any dialogue – and even less well-lit and centered shots – Skinmark establishes a mood that is hard to shake, even days after the final credits roll. Inspired by the analog horror movement slowly dominating the YouTube landscape (The Mandela catalogue a No Way Through are great examples that will ruin your life), Skinamark boasts a similar aesthetic to some of the more unconventional web series floating around, but has the uncanny ability to hold its own as a feature film.
Now that I think about it, “unknown” is the perfect way to describe it Skinmark.
Skinamarink’s Plot Is Irrelevant
I may be speaking in hyperbole when I say that Skinamarink’s plot isn’t all that important, but I can confidently say that its storytelling isn’t nearly as important as its cinematography.
Writer/Director Kyle Edward Ball tells his story through thinly placed feelings, images and bumps in the night rather than taking a more conventional approach involving dialogue or narratives bending in any form of explanation. Skinamarink’s a sense of horror is shown, unspoken, through cryptic random shots of ceilings, off-center images of house interiors, very little dialogue from two frightened children hiding in a moving house slow to different shapes, and a mismatched voice that tries to manipulate them to do his bidding by pretending to be their parents.
A Bare Bones Story
Skinamark centers on a 4-year-old boy named Kevin (Lucas Paul) and his 6-year-old sister, Kaylee (DaliRose Tetreault). Hearing a phone call from their father (Ross Paul), it was made clear that Kevin had suffered a head injury after falling down the stairs during a sleepover. The father reassures whoever he is talking to on the phone that Kevin is fine, and that he does not need to go to the hospital.
From now on, Skinmark exists in a liminal space between this world, and some unknown place that you are unlikely to want to visit anytime soon.
Kevin and Kaylee wake up in the middle of the night to strange noises in the house. Deciding it’s best if they stick together, they venture downstairs to the family room so they can watch cartoons together. The brother and sister try not to panic even though they know they are not alone – that someone, or something, is watching them. Doors disappear and reappear, and Kaylee is drawn upstairs where her mother (Jaime Hill) and father speak in cryptic, monotone voices instructing her to either look from under the bed or close her eyes.
Seeking shelter downstairs once more, the house inside Skinmark continues to play tricks on Kevin and Kaylee.
Perspective Is Everything
Filmed on a budget of just $15,000, Skinmark it has no fancy special effects. With most scenes only lit by a bright TV screen (according to Ball), and a disproportionate number of off-center shots punctuating the film’s visuals, I liken the viewing experience to having an attack of sleep paralysis when you dream about. a malevolent voice or figure in your room, but you are unable to act against it. As the metallic taste of sleep lingers in your mouth, you try to shake off the nightmare, but the harder you try to resist it, the more aggressively your fears push back.
Stream Skinamarink
Installed in 1995, Skinamark brings to mind the feelings of being left behind only at home with your siblings for the first time while your parents go out to dinner with friends. Suddenly, the kicking of the fridge motor takes on a life of its own, and for all you know it wasn’t really the fridge, but instead an ax murderer trying to gain access to your house through the crawl space . That glowing red dot in the corner of the entertainment center you see every day is now a blinking demon eye that won’t break its otherworldly gaze with you.
While Ball’s familiar appearance is certainly open to interpretation, and I have my own thoughts on the end of the film which I won’t say here to avoid spoilers, the one thing I can tell you for sure is that the this movie stays with you for days. .
For its tone alone, Skinamark deserves a lot of praise for being one of the scariest films I’ve seen in a long time. If you are ready to experience dream-like horrors Skinamark to offer, you can stream the title on Hulu as of this writing.
