Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1176246
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 OCTOBER 2019 FILM FILM IN a world that barely allows even the most established of artists to stretch their wings for fear of alienating ever- diminishing, ever-distracted audiences, it's refreshing to have unmoorable luminaries like Stephen King about, who can dictate terms without suf- fering nary a consequence. Riding something of a sec- ond renaissance in the wake of the hugely bankable 'IT' remake duology, the world's most famous horror author is also making his presence known, once again, on our smaller screens, establishing a fruitful relationship with streaming giant Netflix, which now continues with 'In the Tall Grass', an adaptation by Vincenzo Natali of a novella co-written with his own son Joe Hill, serialised in the pages of Esquire Magazine in 2012. The risky allowance here is that King-Hill-Natali have posited a horror story whose main antagonist appears to be malignant grass. In lesser hands – M. Night Shyamalan circa The Following, please stand up – the results would likely have been little more than a rotting vegetation heap of unintentional comedy. However, this canny set of horror fiends has instead con- cocted something deliciously fiendish to help usher the Hal- loween advent calendar along. A heavily pregnant Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) is en route to San Diego with her doting brother Cal (Avery Whitted), planning to give up her baby for adoption as its would-be father, Travis (Har- rison Gilbertson), has decided he does not want to be in the picture. Stopping by an old church in the middle-of-no- where stretch of road, the pair hears a cry for help from what sounds like a distressed child, whom they later discover to be Tobin (Will Buie Jr.). But as they step into the tall grass, they quickly find out that there is nothing straight- forward about this labyrin- thine stretch of greenery, even as they encounter Tobin's parents Ross (Luke Wilson) and Natalie (Rachel Wilson). The Canadian writer-di- rector Vincenzo Natali made a name for himself with the claustrophobic sci-fi thriller Cube back in 1997 – precisely the kind of high-concept but Written by the father-son horror scribe duo of Stephen King and Joe Hill, this slice of single-setting horror is both an effective and affecting journey into the heart of darkness Teodor Reljic Fateful steps Laysla De Oliveira is Becky De Muth, a mum-to-be who makes the mistake of heeding the call of a child in peril Beware the violent vegetation