Last weekend I treated myself to two horrors that I had both been looking forward to and had trepidation about. Immaculate, starting Sydney Sweeney and put out by Neon, has been making a splash on press tours, showing off their stunning lead and pushing the “horrifying” elements. Imaginary, on the other hand, was set to be another Blumhouse landfill horror. But did it actually materialise that way?
The Case for Immaculate
The storyline is so simple that this part will be easy. Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) moves to the Italian countryside to live and work at a picturesque convent. After experiencing some spooky goings-on, she realises she is pregnant, despite being a virgin. The members of the convent praise and protect her, so much so that she is barred from leaving the grounds. Bloody gore ensues, along with a controlling (and handsome) priest.
The horror in Immaculate, or at least the gore, is good. It’s nice and bloody, they don’t shy away from showing messed up shit (making it an 18) and there was an intake of collective breath at one point, which I applaud. They could have used spook better, though. They introduced these creepy red-faced, hooded figures, but they weren’t used as much as I would have liked, I’d say only in three or four scenes.
There’s also little use in shying away from the fact that Sydney Sweeney is both a great actress and gorgeous. Anyone who has seen Euphoria knows that she has an amazing ability to play the scared and scarred. She can cry on queue and uses this subtly in Immaculate.
My problem with Immaculate is the plot. You can tell from the name alone what is going to go down here. Sweeney is a nun and somehow becomes pregnant (hence “immaculate”.) The plot itself isn’t a bad one, I like simplicity when it comes to horror. However, the plot was so under-developed, the characters had no depth and the scenes that had dialogue were short and boring. It was a series of gore strung together with a weak plot.
The final scene was good, and I appreciate a good ending. So points for that too.
The Case for Imaginary
Neither Paul or I had high hopes for Imaginary. We are both big fans of “bad” horrors, because they often end up being funny (or at least funny enough to be worth the 90 minutes).
The plot of Imaginary is a little more complicated than Immaculate. A step mum, Jessica (DeWanda Wise), her husband and step daughters, Alice (Pyper Braun) and Taylor (Taegen Burns) move to Jessica’s childhood home. While there Alice, the younger daughter, makes an imaginary friend (a bear) called Chauncey. This friend starts playing a creepy scavenger hunt game with Alice, leading to a horror-conclusion where Alice needs to be rescued by Jessica and Taylor.
Despite a slow start, Imaginary ended up being a fun watch. The horror itself was by no means “good”. There was minimal gore, only a few jump scares (which all happened at obvious times) and it relied mainly on spook.
The acting wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. It’s not like we actively hated it (see: Exorcist: Believer). There were a few shining stars: the creepy lady who lives down the street and the therapist – both excellently delivered their lines and had us creasing up. If you want scary horror, Imaginary isn’t for you, but if you want something fun, I’d recommend.
The dialogue, especially in the middle third, was just so funny. As an example…
Jessica: She has an imaginary friend. Well, it’s a bear, if that counts.
Crazy older lady: (Snappily) Of course it does!
Imaginary has all the hallmarks of a Blumhouse, it won’t go down in horror history. But it also wasn’t offensively bad.
Who Wins?
Despite me giving both 2.5, if you had to ask me which I’d watch again, right now, I’d probably say Imaginary. If you’d ask me which one I’d show a horror fan, probably Immaculate. Hear me out… Immaculate should have been a silent film…it was pretty, Sweeney’s face is very expressive and the story would still have come across. Someone make this for me!
It’s a hard call, but I think weighing everything, if Immaculate had just a little more plot and character development, it would take it. However, it didn’t, so the winner is…
Winner
Imaginary
That Horror Chick 