There is something inherently unsettling about the idea of a horror writer losing control of the story he is creating. After all, if your imagination is capable of conjuring up monsters, how frightening would it be if those monsters could somehow escape the page? Spider One’s horror film combines psychological horror, slasher elements and a story-within-a-story approach, following a troubled screenwriter whose frightening creation begins to feel increasingly real.
Brandon Scott stars as Adam Lewis, a successful horror screenwriter whose confidence has taken a serious hit following a brutal takedown of his latest movie. Already struggling with self-doubt and creative frustration, Adam begins having disturbing nightmares about a hulking murderer wearing a grotesque baby mask. Rather than simply being traumatised by the dreams, he does what any horror writer would do: he turns them into his next screenplay. The problem is that the more Adam writes, the more difficult it becomes to distinguish what exists in his imagination from what is actually happening around him.
The concept is easily the film’s strongest element.
There is plenty of potential in a horror movie about a writer whose own creation starts haunting him, particularly when that story allows the filmmakers to explore the relationship between creativity, criticism and insecurity. Big Baby occasionally taps into those ideas effectively, but it never digs as deeply into them as it could. Instead, the movie frequently feels caught between wanting to be a psychological horror story and wanting to be a traditional slasher.
Scott is particularly effective in the lead role. Adam isn’t an especially easy character to like, and that’s important. His frustration, arrogance and increasingly unstable behaviour make it difficult to determine whether he is genuinely being victimised by something supernatural or whether the real monster is emerging from within him. Scott manages to make Adam’s deterioration compelling without turning the character into a caricature.
Krsy Fox also brings plenty to the film as Kate, Adam’s partner. Their relationship provides Big Baby with an emotional foundation that prevents the movie from becoming nothing more than a collection of increasingly gruesome murders.
And there are certainly plenty of those.
The biggest problem is that Big Baby doesn’t always know exactly what kind of horror movie it wants to be. The psychological elements are interesting, but they can feel underdeveloped. The meta commentary about being a horror writer is clever, but it isn’t explored with enough consistency. And while the slasher elements provide some fun moments, they aren’t particularly inventive.
The result is a movie that constantly hints at something more substantial without quite getting there. At 103 minutes, Big Baby isn’t excessively long, but certain sections feel as though they are repeating ideas that the film has already established.
Some viewers will appreciate its refusal to provide a straightforward slasher experience, while others may find themselves wishing Spider One had simplified the story and concentrated more heavily on the horror.
Big Baby may occasionally bite off more than it can chew, but Spider One has crafted a horror movie with a distinctive voice — one that understands that sometimes the scariest thing you can create is a reflection of yourself.
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
- Socials: @frazer.live
- @neill.outloud
