A Cure for Wellness

It's delightfully filmed weirdness - after Crimson Peak, another horror film that's not very usual for the contemporary viewer (even the genre classification here doesn't know how to deal with it :)), but which perfectly had me in the palm of its hand. First of all, it was able to surprise me with something every now and then, which was probably the best of all. Priessnitz never dreamed of such a hydrotherapy, and I, who was so bored by Shutter Island, probably didn't dream of such a film either. (22/02/2017)

Whoever gave Verbinsky the money he needed to make A Cure for Wellness look so beautiful must be insane. But the insanity doesn’t end there – and will naturally disappoint anyone incapable of leaving behind the expectations of an intelligent and ambitious future genre classic (which is already made clear at least in the first half hour). On the other hand, I think that there hasn’t been anyone in history who has shot so well, and with such budget, a thoroughbred Gothic horror script out of Hammer. The core idea is alright and it’s elaborated with some sophistication, considering the standards of the sub-genre (i.e. silly, but in a cute rather than annoying way). The main problem is unfortunately the length, and here I agree with several of the more critical reviewers. The beginning is excellent, it manages to arouse the curiosity of the viewer, it’s mysterious and disturbing. The climax is also great, the WTF moments come one after another in such way that at times I wasn’t sure that I was seeing what I was seeing. Jason Isaacs plays Christopher Lee in his best years, and wonderfully at that (but who among today’s moviegoers will appreciate it?). Unfortunately, for more than one hour in the middle, Verbinsky stretches things too much and the film wouldn’t be hurt by a significant cut in its run. If everything between the first and last half hours was condensed to about half the time, it would be perfect, because I am really happy that something like this exists. (17/02/2017)

Shutter Island 2 – under the influence. Verbinski is a painter, his artistic eye for long takes and visually arresting stylisation is very satisfying for fans of the form. For the first half at least, he also manages to expertly build tension and a sense of something slightly bizarre beyond reality and completely unpredictable. Unfortunately, the surrealism is a bit too much, and in the hands of unimaginative screenwriters is bound to end up in an out-of-place fiasco. Scorsese also had amazing character psychology and a fantastic twist, which is lacking here. (13/06/2017)

Gore Verbinski on drugs? A third clone of Shutter Island, more confused than Stonehearst Asylum and bizarrely mixed with The Abominable Dr. Phibes? I understand the intention to create a B-movie guilty pleasure with a lavish budget. Mysteriousness and unpredictability work at least for the first half of the movie. But it all turns ridiculous in the end. Dane DeHaan was certainly looking forward to his first big lead role, but he won’t break through with this one. Interesting posters, an unclear target audience, all resulting in a fiasco. I want a more intimate version of this from Roman Polanski without CGI. (20/02/2017)

The film builds up and escalates quite well, but after a while, you realize it's been building up for too long. Verbinski probably realized that too, hence he inserts drastic, often really gruesome scenes into the film A Cure for Wellness, which appropriately affect you. Especially those dental scenes are exceptionally well executed and extremely gruesome. And then there are the eels... Good scenes, nice atmosphere, but without really managing to captivate you as much as you might expect. I didn’t like the ending. (05/08/2017)