Fantastic Fest 2023: THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE BARN

The holiday season is ripe with the delights of Christmas cheer. Egg nog, peppermint sticks, family gatherings and a Jolly ol’ man to bring it all together. What it is truly missing, though, is a good sense of horror. Yes, yes, yes. There have been horrors in the past, each with their own levels of success and failures. Jack Frost, Krampus, Black Christmas, Silent Night Deadly Night and A Nightmare Before Christmas are a few of the holiday horrors and Halloween delights that have stood out over the years, but honestly, I crave more.

Thankfully, this year’s Fantastic Fest has a film that just might satisfy. Magnus Martens‘ There’s Something in the Barn is far from the horror of the year, but damn, is it ever fun. From the very beginning, the film never takes itself too seriously. A cheesy holiday horror that doesn’t try to be anything more than it knows it is, There’s Something in the Barn is wildly entertaining.

Horrific Holiday Spirit

There is a brightness and cheer to the snow covered farm house as an old man emerges from the barn. Clipping a chain to the tractor, viewers will feel his urgency. As the tractor dies, the resilience for destruction rises, the man entering the barn and spilling gas all over the floor. But he is not alone, something unseen growling and running out of sight lurking in the shadows. As the old man flees to the loft, we as viewers already know he is not surviving this opening as moments later he is flung outside the barn window to his death.

It is an effective opening, feeling reminiscent in lighting and construction to films of the 1990s and early 2000s, yet fully aware of the audience it is currently entertaining. This is most apparant as the film moves forward a year later, the family of the old man making their way to the farm house after inheriting the home following his death. Immediately, There’s Something in the Barn takes on the direction of a horror comedy, the family’s initial interaction with a moose and the sheriff’s perspective on America setting the foundation for a film that will not be taking itself too seriously at all.

There’s Something in the Barn often times feels as though its familial interactions exist as only filler, but at its very least it keeps the humor and the connection – and at times lack there of – between the family moving forward. Moving from California, Norway presents a plethora of opportunity for the family, as well as isolation. For Bill (Martin Starr) and is wife (Amrita Acharia), it’s a chance to turn their farmhouse into a Norway destination Bed and Breakfast. For daughter Nora (Zoe Winther-Hansen), its the heart of Siberian isolation, her friends and life left behind in California. And for son Lucas (Townes Banner), it is a chance to make a friend. And what a friend he makes.

There’s Something in the Barn does not hesitate in its introduction of the Barn elf lore, the benefits of pleasing a Barn elf felt immedately, the warning of his rules giving the film a sense of foreboding and framework early on. There’s Something in the Barn is entirely predictable, especially in its initial direction though. As Lucas befriends the elf (Kiran Shah), and the family refuses to believe him regarding the elf’s existence, horror is certain to befall the family. Yet,what isn’t expected is the jovial holiday horrific spirit it will encompass.

Conclusion

There are moments the film feels as though it has gone off the rails. I felt I shouldn’t be as intrigued as I was, but There’s Something in the Barn had me hooked from start to finish. Boasting hilariously horrific deaths, wild parties in the heart of destruction and undeniable heart, There’s Something in the Barn might not be groundbreaking, it will definitely keep you entertained.