The Woman

The Woman is not, obviously, a family movie, but it is, like much of the best drama, about a family - here, how an outsider upends its unhinged equilibrium. True to its genre, there is gore and sudden shrieks.

The Woman is disturbing, lurid and perverse, but that isn't necessarily bad: Horror buffs, especially fans of Ketchum, will be overcome with joy and excitement.

There are plenty of guts, but The Woman doesn't have enough to make its feminist rhetoric stick.

The movie - which caused walkouts and an uproar at Sundance - rewards your endurance with an utterly insane 30-minute climax of violence, audacious gore and all-around bad behavior (how this picture got an R rating is baffling).

The Woman isn't simply a gore-fest. It's just mostly a gore-fest, with a little more going on, as well.

Even with a nauseous climax, The Woman never gets under the skin, and its artsy-languid pacing and incessant lite-metal commentary tunes finally seem like part of an effort to disguise what it really is: torture porn for people who'd never admit to liking torture porn.

Dropping on top of the heap is Lucky McKee's barely competent domestic thriller, bound to make you groan more than think.

The Woman is not a perfect movie. Certain camera angles are jarring and infective, and the third act, while impressive in its ambitions, nevertheless feels a tad rushed. However, this film (which is more a drama and deconstruction of the nuclear family unit than a horror movie), is outstanding in its portrayal of the life of its central family, the Cleeks. The titular woman is both simultaneously nothing and everything. She is merely the stage upon which the family slowly reveals their own natures upon. This method of story telling is far more effective than the oft used simple back story reveal. A viewer knows almost nothing of these characters outside of what is specifically seen on camera, and yet, by the time the credits roll, every person involved has their own unique traits and relationship. This is further achieved by the strong acting performances turned in by all cast members, who portray these characters as living and breathing. This film is a landmark in "horror" cinema. Just don't expect too many scares.

Some fascinating concepts at play here, and the excellent cast do a great job within the limited screenplay. The pacing of the film is pretty odd and ultimately it never succeeds in commiting to a particular genre/tone to excel beyond anything other than the realm of 'B grade'. Worth your time if just for the excellent horror imagery during the last 20 mins or so.

Ketchum's novels seem to breed amoral psychopaths. The Woman is an interesting concept, and the subtext of the film is more interesting (and disturbing) than what happens on-camera. So by the mid-point, the film begins to tread familiar ground to Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, but The Woman's charged final quarter is worth staying for.

I'm not usually one to write film reviews, but felt compelled to write one about the Woman when I saw that it had somehow got 58 on Metacritic! This film is utter garbage and just about managed to knock Abrahm lincon vs zombies off my worst film top-spot! The synopsis reads well, and may lead you to believe it could be a good film, but is if in fact a poorly written, poorly shot, poorly executed film. The plot is stupid, and don't get me started on the "ending". Avoid!

This is the biggest pile of garbage i have ever seen. Its easy to see that the online critics are getting merchandise and free viewings of this film because if they had to pay for it, it would get nothing but bad reviews. just like how the reviewers at ign reviewing a game and saying its stellar when its nothing more than a turn in a **** bucket. I knew what i was in for as soon as it started, here's this woman who's a savage cant speak English probably raised by wolves so to say but yet she is armed with a **** bowie knife. nuff said. Unless this **** learned how to smelt iron out of the dirt and learned to forge the **** thing, where the **** did she get it? It doesn't add up probably she bought it at **** yeah that's right she a **** savage. What a load of bull**** I am glad I never paid money to see this boring piece of **** Thank god for piracy. that is all.