There's Something in the Barn (2023)
This Christmas ... you must respect your elf.
L:et us pivot from comedy to horror comedy. I’ll soften the blow by making it holiday themed for you - even if that holiday has already gone long by because it’s Christmas, but you know. Either way, what it comes down to is I saw a headline that compared it to Gremlins, and I really enjoyed that movie so why wouldn’t I give this a shot right? Tonight we tune into an American family in Norway, better sleep with your light on because There’s Something in the Barn.
An old man seams very bent on destroying his barn, but looks an awful lot like something is trying to prevent it. So much so, he ends up on fire and dead. With that out of the way we get to our main characters family - the deceased old man being the fathers Uncle. He’s trying to get everyone somewhere nice and make things work, and of course that’s a mixed bag with the entire rest of the family. They figure they can spruce the barn up into a neat little bed and breakfast spot - but there is something weird about that barn. When they visit the local town, the son finds out just what it is - a barn elf. According to lore, you are good to them they are good to you - but what happens when a family likes to ignore the rules because they don’t think barn elves are real? Well, you’ll very easily see why the movie got comparisons to Gremlins, that’s what. It’ll be a miracle for these goofball family members to make it out in one piece!
The characters aren’t horrible, but they aren’t exactly impressive either. It’s sort of fun to see the Americans as the odd ball out in the movie, given the number of movies where I’ve seen it the other way around. That said, the dad is a very passive just make it work kind of guy - a bit of that lovable screw-up archetype that would fit perfect in a movie about stoners. The step-mom and daughter are actually remarkably the same in many regards, and the son is the interactive focal point whose doing the best to do right by the barn elf. At surface level, it’s really nothing super deep - but they do take a moment now and then to actually put some effort into at least the dynamic between the family, if not the individual characters themselves. It’s certainly no out-of-nowhere dad died in a chimney so I hate Christmas story like in Gremlins, but some effort was made and that’s a nice touch.
The actors are a bit more mixed. I don’t feel that anything is unintentional, but sometimes that intentional could come off a bit underwhelming than others. The dad, for example, almost always has an aloof sense of comedy about him regardless of how serious the moment might be, and the daughter can at times feel like she’s nailing it only to pivot to something that seems like it’s kind of just going through the paces. The side characters also have this level of “don’t know you” silent Norwegian to rowdy drunk partygoers. People are mostly doing exactly what you would think they would, and there’s a decent amount of flex - but most the time the level being delivered isnt’ going to be so memorable you talk about it for ages to come. That said, the elves do a good job considering you can’t understand a word of made up dialogue they deliver. Again, there’s some good comparisons to Gremlins that can be made here.
Barn surprise reveal.
With all that being said, this movie isn’t Gremlins, nor is it necessarily trying to be. I think a lot of it feels that way because you have diminutive creatures that cause havoc in the final arc, and some of the antics and horror line up. What kind of horror? Well, things like “having rules” - which by the way isn’t necessarily something where it’s identical either. Here, it’s far more “how not to make your local barn elf angry” than it is “don’t do this or it turns evil and self-multiplies out of control”.. It takes that mischievous little fantastical creature mythos that’s present in pretty much every culture - and of course pivots in this particular instance to make it Norwegian, because everyone loves Norway and if you don’t you should feel bad. Not like, “I’m a horrible person” bad, but like “I’m not as cool as I could be” bad. Anyways, this also lacks the scale of some of the happenings in Gremlins - it’s all one spot instead of across the town, just one family instead of the entire town. Same holiday, same genre, and same overall satisfaction as long as you don’t expect cookie cutter copies. That said, humor is always subjective, but I laughed a bunch during this one, so it at least fit my sense of humor from the slapstick to unexpected timings, all the way to the one elf fart.
The costume works is pretty good. Yes, for the most part it’s just modern wear - usually heavier winter-themed modern wear like sweaters and coats - and that part isn’t quite as interesting enough that we find tons of stuff in it, but it’s believable and fitting which means it does a great job. On the elf side, we do get some costumes and in some instances I almost think it might be some masks getting used for the less hero-shot moments. They all look good, and most moments it might or is a mask doesn’t stick around so long that it starts looking bad. The kills that we see aren’t overly detailed but still pretty brutal. Characters - by the end of the ordeal - look like they’ve been through an ordeal. It’s one of those times when it all works well enough that you are never pulled out of the movie or anything because of it, even if it’s not so crazy impressive visually that it draws your eyes to it.
Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows either. The horror is largely more of a background tension for the larger chunk of the movie, so folks looking purely for horror might be underwhelmed. It doesn’t really feel boring at all during the rest of the movie, but the end act is certainly when things amp up and become the most entertaining, so I could see where someone might find the build up part less interesting because of that, even if it does help build things up to better appreciate it. The characters aren’t going to grab most people in a meaningful way I don’t think - even if they are still enjoyable enough that you don’t hate them. There’s also a bunch of moments where people will call out characters acting dumb, because despite living through a pandemic and seeing how dumb people can be, we still feel a wanton desire to call out how unbelievable actions movie character take are. I guess sometimes that’s maybe part of the charm of it I guess though -it does lead to the movie having more party-watching atmosphere, where it can be better enjoyed with a group of people just expecting to have a good time instead of any major requirements out of the movie.
A boy and his elf.
I had fun with it, I laughed at it, and I’d like to thank whatever website has “it’s like Gremlins” in their headline that moved the movie up the ranks in my “I should watch this” list (bonus fact, it was already in there I just wasn’t in a hurry to watch it). It’s light hearted and goofy enough that it honestly doesn’t feel all that scary, and that could be a downside for some - but considering the number of folks that still enjoyed Germlins I don’t think most will have a problem with it. Perhaps it might be better for winter holiday viewing though, much like VIolent Night it doesn’t hurt to watch it whenever, but movies set on a holiday just feel like they belong to being watched on said holidays. Check out the trailer and see what you think - but if you have Netflix I think you’ll probably have a pretty good time as long as a little violence and language won’t bother you!