High class with grace and lots of blood, but no story.
As “Victorian Psycho” begins, Winifred Notty (Maika Monroe) is introduced to the audience with her head leaning towards the right and herself saying: “I’m the sanest person I have ever met.” I think the ghost of Stanley Kubrick is possessing director Zachary Wigon and the screenwriter and author of the book Virginia Feito, based on how they bring the literature character to the big screen with the right leading actress. I’m surprised she didn’t appear in the 1921 July 4th Overlook Hotel photo in “The Shining.”
I wanted to like this movie, especially since Ti West turned a girl into a murderer in “Pearl.” But “Victorian Psycho” doesn’t elevate the genre as much as it should. It seems more into the sinister nature of the main heroine than really developing things further. In fact, it starts to become boring in the long run, and that’s too bad because I appreciate the horror and period genres.
The time and place is 19th century England, and Winifred is the new governess of the Gothic manor Ensor House, assigned to teach Drusilla (Evie Templeton from Netflix’s “Wednesday”) and Andrew (Jacobi Jupe from last year’s “Hamnet”), the children of her new employers Mr. and Mrs. Pounds (Jason Isaacs and Ruth Wilson). At first, they seem snooty, but Winifred either wins their respect or fears. And it does tend to jumble around a bit with how she keeps going at the manor. Sometimes, they seem impressed, and other times, they’re disenchanted by her. Even Mrs. Pounds makes her sleep in the doghouse. We should be grateful that no poop jokes are needed to resonate with the horror genre.
Here are some of the things that also suggest that she is evil. Winifred can also go by the name of Fred, who may be the demon living inside her. She becomes a bad influence on the kids, as she kills a wounded deer right in front of them. And she inspires Drusilla to draw unspeakable pictures. She also murders a man, hacks his corpse up, and feeds his body parts to the pigs. And she also has a friendship with a naive young maid named Miss Lamb (Thomasin McKenzie), who kind of reminds me of Misty, the sister-in-law of the title villainess in “Pearl.” It doesn’t end well for her either. In fact, it ends too soon for the maid, and she may be even more naive than Misty.
When we see the terrors the main heroine engages her and the audience in, they’re just as worthy of being possessed by the spirit of Kubrick. From the opening shot to the “Ready or Not” inspired horrors she basically places on the family, Wigon and Feito both know how to guide Monroe, and it’s all beautifully photographed by Nico Aguilar. And we’re not talking about explosions; we’re talking about how people in the house get attacked. One of them gets killed by a pineapple.
Movie fans know that Monroe’s best horror films include “It Follows” and “Longlegs,” and we believe “Victorian Psycho” should be as great as those films. But we end up being disappointed by its lackluster story and inconsistent nature. There’s barely any character development within the family, and as I just mentioned, their personalities seem to jumble around. And that’s too bad, because Isaacs and Wilson are both ideal choices as Mr. and Mrs. Pounds.
“Victorian Psycho” wants to be a very Notty film (pun intended) and given its choice of evil moments, it should be. But it ends up getting lost in the narrative and losing its sinister touch. There’s plenty of high class to merge within the genre, but less grace.
