Skinamarink (2022) Movie Review - Hugely Divisive Analogue Horror

Welcome to Knockout Horror and to another Horror Movie Review. Boy has this movie ever been seeing some crazy hype? Shudder original Skinamarink is, what you may describe as, an experimental horror movie. Created by YouTuber Kyle Edward Ball. This is a movie that is pushing reviewer hyperbole to levels not seen since The Blair Witch Project. “Skinamarink will make you scared of the dark again!“. “One of the scariest movies of all time“. And other wild statements have been echoed by major platforms. It’s rather confounding.

The story basically follows a pair of young children who appear to be trapped in a house. All the doors and windows have vanished, their father has gone and the children can’t escape. What starts as a, seemingly, normal night quickly turns into a nightmare. Skinamarink is filmed in an analogue horror movie style. Abstract camera angles, muted dialogue and a lot of grain are the order of the day. Oh, and confusion, there is a lot of confusion too. Hence why we put together a Skinamarink Ending Explained article for you to read. Keep in mind if you haven’t watched the movie yet. The article does contain spoilers, unlike this review.

Hugely Divisive

Updating this review in October of 2024, I don’t think I have ever seen such a huge disparity between critical and viewer opinion when it comes to horror. This movie currently sits at a pitiful 4.8/10 on IMDB with over 17,000 votes and a woeful 36% rotten user score on Rotten Tomatoes. A large contingent of horror fans despite this movie and it is very easy to understand why.

This is a movie that is absolutely not for everyone. Some reviewers are taking liberties with this fact and using it to attack horror fans. Skinamarink has become a veritable jousting spear to poke fun at people who don’t enjoy the movie. With fans and reviewers throwing thinly veiled shade at people who have a different view from theirs. “This is a movie for people with patience“. “Only true horror fans need apply” and other elitist bullshit seems to be common sentiments echoed by this movie’s supporters. This is a movie that is slow, bizarrely presented and asks a lot of the viewer. It’s near two hour runtime can be an utter chore.

Something that really should have been a short movie and is an exercise in patience for most horror viewers. Is now being worn as a feather in the cap for the self proclaimed “pure horror fan”. The reality is that just as many will hate this film as love it. It will divide relentlessly. What I hope to do with this review is provide a moderate opinion. There’s parts of this movie that I love and parts I hate. Let’s take a look.

A Note For ADHD and Similar Disorder Sufferers

As someone with bipolar disorder who has a fiancee with ADHD. I really feel like this point deserves mentioning. Skinamarink is a movie that demands a lot of concentration. It does very little to aid the easily distracted and sufferers of certain conditions are going to have a rough time. Your mind is likely to wander many times during the movie and there is a fair chance this will lead to a bit of exhaustion. I struggled more than my fiancee because ADHD hyper focus can be a super power at times.

Static shots offer little to keep you engaged, the camera work does nothing to help guide your focus. There are moments of redundancy offering the perfect opportunity to mentally check out. The repeating image dirt filter is distracting and the story is minimal. You may find this movie something of a chore and tough to get through. If this is your experience with Skinamarink, don’t beat yourself up. There are some fantastic horror moments worth sticking with the movie to experience. If you struggle, however, maybe watch in a few sittings.

A Simple Story

Skinamarink’s story is nothing particularly new or even that interesting. What sets Skinamarink apart from other movies, and why it is being talked about so much, is its presentation. Have you ever wondered what would happen if David Lynch directed a silent horror movie? The result would look a lot like this. The style is incredibly abstract. It is, also, sure to be as divisive as it is unique. Some will find this a difficult movie to watch. It demands patience and an ability to tolerate inferior cinematic presentation.

Heavy dirt filters are used on top of a grainy, poorly lit, image. The result is a picture that, often, looks as confused as it does imposing. Skinamarink stands out for its risk taking as much as anything else. For every flickering patch of black, hinting at the creatures dancing in the darkness beyond. There is a frustrating, context-less, shot of the top of a door, lingering for an eternity.

A feeling that scenes go nowhere and add nothing is inescapable. There is a distinct sense that much of the scene building is, in reality, scene padding in disguise. This should have been a short movie and, in all honesty, there is nothing here to make the laborious run time worth sticking with outside of the viewer’s subjective desire to do so. I really can’t shake the feeling that this is something you would find in the artiest of arty places on YouTube.

A Commitment to Its Aesthetic

This speaks to the bigger issue with Skinamarink. This is a movie that succeeds or fails based on its commitment to its stylistic trappings. People will love it for what it is but others will simply despise the presentation. The current (October 2024) viewer scores absolutely support this notion.

Skinamarink does a lot right, however. The way it manages to capture the vagueness of our dreams is commendable. The uncanniness of the non-waking world has never felt so well formed. From the bizarre, almost nonsensical, camera angles to the disconnected manner of the character’s speech. This is a place we all recognise and Ball deserves immense praise for his ability to bring to life something we usually only feel while in a deep sleep.

But the uncomfortable truth here is that Skinamarink takes liberties with the viewer’s time and patience. Minute after minute of pointless shots laced in with dull, repetitious, scenes of kids doing kid things. Occasionally punctuated with some actually effective horror. It is wildly unnecessary in the grand scheme of things and incredibly self indulgent. For the things it does right, there is an overwhelming amount that simply doesn’t work.

Skinamarink stretches slow cinema to a length I have not experienced before and wouldn’t be overly interested in experiencing again. It’s funny because if this was a 20 minute short movie it may have been one of my favourites of all time. If this was part of an anthology horror, other directors would be green with envy and everyone would be talking about it. It would have been breath taking. As it stands, however, it is mere novelty and one that sticks around for an unwelcome amount of time, at that.

Some Actually Effective Horror

Despite the above complaints. I would absolutely say that there are moments where this movie really shines. There are scenes in Skinamarink that will probably scare you quite a lot. Skinamarink does a lot with a little when it comes to horror. Ball completely understands the terror that comes in apprehension. He perfectly condenses the fear that exists in the moments leading up to a moment. The resulting slow release creates a palpable level of tension.

The simple uttering of the words “Look under the bed” are infinitely more effective that your typical Hollywood jump scares. Chilling, terrifying and inciting feelings of fight or flight. There are powerfully effective horror moments here that will stay with you. Placing the viewer into the shoes of a child is an inspired move. The almost first person perspective of the movie invites a specific kind of fear. A fear we all know too well. That feeling of being a child lost in a dream like world. The character’s lack of understanding is easy to appreciate and you will likely share in it and feel it too. Again, if the movie was 25 minutes long, it would be 25 of the most unsettling minutes in horror history.

Should You Watch Skinamarink?

Skinamarink is a tough movie to review and it is, most definitely, a movie you should think hard about before committing your time to. I see this movie appear on top of people’s lists of most hated movies more than any other. It is just so slow and, for the most part, devoid of any reason to watch. It is a slave to its presentation, a presentation that is sure to divide people. Even people that enjoy the bizarre, David Lynch-esque, trappings of the film may struggle.

This is a short movie stretched to a 100 minute runtime. Ruthlessly self indulgent and dismissive of the viewer’s time. Rarely has a movie been so content with laughing at a viewer as they stare at a pointless piece of furniture through a grotesquely grainy image. The result is a bunch of redundancy and scenes that feel unnecessary. The abstract camera angles and lack of points of interest only compounds these issues. It’s bowling shoe ugly and, if we are being perfectly honest, rather up its own arse. But some of the moments of horror work incredibly well. Is that enough to recommend? Probably not.