Tonight She Comes Film Review by
When a film opens with a woman horrifically bloodied and beaten, violently stabbing herself in her pregnant stomach and proceeding to eagerly rip whatever is inside, out, you know you’re going to be in for one hell of a tormenting ride. Tonight She Comes immediately sets the tone for a brutal and unflinching turn of events with this scene, yet doesn’t quite manage to deliver the shocks again until the final half hour of the film.
The audience is given two sets of characters to follow; we start a car journey with the boy next door who happens to be a “mailman”, which is more like a Hermes driver, and his bearded friend who seems to be obsessed with masturbating whenever and wherever possible. The other couplet are two party loving girls, who have lost their friend Kristy but don’t seem to be too concerned with her whereabouts as they have beer, whiskey and the lake to themselves. When Ashley and Lyndsey find James the mailman asleep in the outhouse at the lake, they start drinking and making headway for his pants until a visceral drenched woman shows up, ready to claim lives.
Tonight She Comes is a film that is hard to put into one category, as it has definitions that fall under many sub-genres and tropes, yet never really manages to fit in exactly. Just writing a synopsis of the film was difficult as there are so many events that happen in quick succession, yet never fully coming together as a whole. This erratic style is both the downfall and making of the film, as for some it’s going to go down as a cult favourite remembered as one of the “What the fuck?!” movies, whereas for others it will just seem like a jumble of incoherent scenes that are led by the shock factor. Either way, it’s worth powering through the first two thirds even if they are a little lacklustre and somewhat lacking identity in certain places.
Although the film has been helmed as It Follows meets Cabin Fever, I would say it’s more I Spit on Your Grave meets The Evil Dead, which is a far more appealing premise for those who love the splatter, shock and comedic aspects of those movies. From the opening scene, to the way the men act and describe women throughout the entirety of the film, it’s clear that there are ISOYG vibes throughout, as the men are depicted as unintelligent beings who have no other goal than to stick their dick in something that moves, or doesn’t. With the film world currently dominated with strong women, director Matt Stuertz made a wise move to ensure that every woman in Tonight She Comes is badass in their own faulted ways; which really gave this film a twist that I loved. During one six second sex scene, it becomes inherently clear that Stuertz is confident in betraying men as climax-driven beasts that think with an organ that unfortunately has the lifespan of six seconds when it comes to trying to please a female. The reaction from Felicity, played by Jenna McDonald, will have you howling if you’ve ever had the saddening experience of such a disappointing fuck, which many of us most likely have.
Although paying homage to 80s shock films like The Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave, this film doesn’t quite cut it when it comes to storyline. Even with that said, for any gorehound and lover of practical special effects, you’ll find the gnarly concoctions of gore to your taste. A personal pet peeve of mine is look of blood in horror films; if you’re featuring scenes slathered with the stuff, then the proper form is to ensure that it looks remotely realistic otherwise there really isn’t much point. Tonight She Comes focuses heavily on the beautifully bloodied Kristy aka Mother, who calmly stalks and slaughters anyone within her reach all the whilst being completely naked except for her body armour which comes in the form of the blood from a recent sacrifice. Note: if you love boobs and blood, you might want to watch the film for that alone…Then there’s the sacrificial blood that’s needed to end the bloody woman’s demonic plague, which is a mouthwatering medley of a few characters blood, including Ashley’s menstrual blood and heavily soaked tampon. Every effect used throughout this disturbing and gut-churning act is so well crafted that there were moments where even I struggled to pull my iron cladded stomach together to swallow what was flowing from the screen.
Tonight She Comes will be one of the most divisive films of the year, but it will get audiences talking about what the fuck they’ve just watched, and that’s no bad thing. Regardless of whether or not you’re going to love or hate this movie, it’s worth a watch for the ending on its own… Because holy SHIT, that ending certainly made me look my own female anatomy in completely different way.
