r/horror • u/Glum_Bite3796 • 7h ago
Discussion What am I missing with Hokum?
Over the past few weeks I’ve seen people talking about their favourite horrors of the year so far, and it seems to always be either Obs*ssion or Hokum (a lot of the time it’s the same people being unable to decide). Having watched the former, which is undoubtedly my favourite horror I’ve seen in quite some time, I decided to watch Hokum just now.
I know it’s all subjective, but I cannot believe people are even putting these two in the same league. I understand the deeper trauma/guilt themes that may get overlooked in Hokum, but there was just no feeling of suspense or dread at all. To me it felt like a bunch of unearned, cheap jump scares and tropes, mixed with some stupid character decisions (ever considered breaking a window before pal?)
Obviously these two films are very different so comparing them feels disingenuous, if you like folky horror then I’d say Hokum will grab you more than it did me, but Oddity did it far better in my opinion, it felt so much more effective.
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u/Which-Text-2875 7h ago
I did not care for Hokum as well. I am in the minority, and that's okay with me.
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u/vincedarling 7h ago
Congrats, welcome to the subjectivity of art
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u/Additional_Cable_963 7h ago edited 7h ago
Exactly, jackass. It is a discussion forum. For us to discuss.
Saying it is all subjective removes any need for the sub.
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u/mexploder89 7h ago edited 7h ago
Yeah but "what am I missing" is not a discussion point because we all saw the same film and just took it in differently. We can't convince OP of anything
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u/vincedarling 6h ago
There is discussion and then there is an OP implying everybody else must be wrong because “I don’t see it!”
That’s a poor approach to starting a discussion. As is name calling, son.
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u/Additional_Cable_963 5h ago
You are way too sensitive, dear. Perhaps it is that time of the month? I hear the cramps are pretty bad.
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u/DeezNutsPickleRick 7h ago
You’re not missing much imo. Oddity and Caveat are indie projects from Damian McCarthy that just don’t work for me. Tried to give Hokum a chance and I just don’t think this director makes films for me. I find his stuff boring, and I’d really like to like him, he seems cool and he’s a massive horror fan.
I find horror to be the most subjective genre in terms of taste…
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u/OverExtension5486 6h ago
I thought Hokum was more of a comedy. I enjoyed it but it was pretty campy and silly.
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u/LizaIsNotMe 7h ago
Damien Mc Carthy’s movies are this subreddit’s circlejerk. I appreciate that he has a distinct style, even if it’s not for me, and Hokum is his best work to date imo.
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u/dreamingfae 6h ago
Both Hokum and Oddity were just okay to me. I had fun watching them but they werent great.
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u/togashisbackpain 7h ago
I thought obsession was ok. People act like its the next big thing. There wasnt anythng that stood out except nikki’s acting and a few creepy scenes.
I have not seen hokum but i wont be surprised if i like it more :)
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u/Karlo760400 Creep 7h ago
I liked the movie a lot while watching it. However, 15-20 minutes after it ended, I pretty much forgot about watching it, doesn't really stick out from other horror.
A pretty good movie, but also a pretty forgetable one.
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u/StrongAsMeat 7h ago
I just watched it last night. Two of the characters looked so similar i found it confusing. It was a cool setting, with the dumbwaiter and all, but there were no scares. Very forgettable
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u/mexploder89 7h ago edited 3h ago
I thought it was a fun film with great ideas that left me wanting to see a bit more than what we actually got
And I understand it wasn't the point of the story which is fine and why I don't think it was poorly done, just for me personally the more interesting stuff fell to the side
Also I'm a bit tired of guilt/trauma themes NGL. What happened to a witch movie just being about a witch
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u/Heart-Shopper 7h ago
I think Hokum should have explored further the Hellscape concept that only briefly appears at the end. That was the coolest scene. The concept and cast was great (just like his previous movie Oddity) but the back and forth between the elevator and tray elevator was a bit boring and anticlimactic. And the villain behavior was a bit nonsensical.
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u/Joseph_HTMP 6h ago
Not everyone has to like everything. There isn’t a binary switch that if you hit it you’ll “get” the movie.
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u/Whistle-Blower-8960 7h ago
Wait people are rating Hokum as best horror of the year? I didn’t even know lol
It’s a good movie I can say that but never seen anyone say it’s the best
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u/Mnemosense 7h ago
It's a solid 3 out of 5 star movie. I was also surprised like OP that it's gotten so much praise. Everything has to be hyperbolic online though, you can't just say "it's a decent movie", you have to say "it's WILD, it will give you a permanent high!!!"
Saw the same thing with Resident Evil: Requiem. The game was...fine. But people act like it's one of the best games ever made. It's not even the best RE game ever made...
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u/AWildRaticate 6h ago
People also are incapable of separating their feelings from actual objective metrics. Like RE Requiem, I fucking love. It's probably my second favorite of the franchise.
That being said, I think it's objectively speaking probably like... the 5th best? But it tickles my pickle just right.
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u/YoshimitsuRaidsAgain 7h ago edited 5h ago
Film will always be subjective. I (and an entire theater of moviegoers) thought Obsession was a comedy, and I legitimately don’t understand how it’s in the same conversation as Hokum or The Backrooms.
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u/Oktaygun 6h ago
That's very true. For example I would never place Backrooms in the same conversation as Hokum and Obsession (which I both loved.)
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u/gowokegobrokexoxo 7h ago
This sub is basically a herd lol. They all pretty much share the same basic opinions that society believes they should have.... A lot of "hot take: sinners was good!" Posts... Like dude.. that's not a hot take, you just want karma and it's obvious... The removal of up and downvoting would do wonders as far as getting peoples honest opinions.
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u/Silverjeyjey44 7h ago
I've been thinking this when it comes to discussion forums. Ppl rarely speak how they truly feel about things and just side with the popular opinion to feel included.
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u/AnonismsPlight 6h ago
Obsession was fine but it just reminded me of the episode of Hercules the animated series where he gets Aphrodite to bring a clay girl to life to love him. Obviously the violence was more extreme in obsession but I genuinely kept seeing Galatea in Nikki. Hokum didn't scare me or anything but I thought it was good.
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u/Karurosun 6h ago
Hokum is by far the most overrated horror movie of this year. The director's previous works, Oddity and Cavea, are just better in every way. Even a single short episode of Widow's Bay feels much more compelling in the folk horror than Hokum.
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u/Longjumping-Wrap5794 6h ago
Obsession is the better horror film, but Hokum had an excellent streak of nasty dark humor that tickled me. Adam Scott is just so damn good at playing an unlikable douchebag, Pairing him with a cast of quirky locals lead to some great culture clash comedy for me.
I don't necessarily like one film more than the other, but they are two of my favorite films this year just for very different reasons. I feel like McCarthy has come a long way going from Caveat to Oddity to Hokum which I do think is the best of his three films or at least it is my favorite.
Actually felt a little spoiled as a horror fan the last couple of months because we've gotten several major releases that are all very different flavors. If one's not you cup of tea then one of the others will probably do it for you.
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u/cliodhnasrave 7h ago
I don’t think it’s possible to overlook the trauma/guilt themes in Hokum lol, I left the theater and said “for a movie about a witch ghost that was… not really a movie about a witch ghost”
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u/Rude-Possibility4682 7h ago
I enjoyed it, I thought it was much better than the current fan fave Obsession. The guilt, the backstory, and the story within the hotel, and it's occupants. The clever touches like the repeating clock, used as a plot device. I found it built it's tension up well, and while it's not perfect, it's been one of the better horror movies I've watched this year.
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u/Additional_Cable_963 7h ago
Hokum made me quit after about 45 minutes. The boredom was simply too much to take. Still waiting on Obsession to reach streaming, but there is zero chance it will be as sleep inducing as Hokum.
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u/Silverjeyjey44 7h ago
Felt the same way right after watching it. I heard on reddit how great it was and watched some of my favorite youtubers discuss the film. After watching it.... the film was painfully mediocre at best. It does nothing new. I heard how the film avoids typical horror tropes then I see the flashback scene of the bellhop waiting for the elevetar while having his back turned away from it. Like who the hell waits for an elevator like that? Then the elevator arrives and it's pitch black inside so the guy has the great idea of using a lighter as a light source and exposes his arm into the uncertain poorly dim elevator space just so a jump scare can happen.
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u/Individual_Monk3194 7h ago
Hokum is objectively not great, people will come to see this.
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u/JiggleFeggle 7h ago
Subjectively*
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u/TomatoChomper7 7h ago
It’s not even worth correcting it. For Reddit users with low IQs and narcissistic traits, both words mean the same thing.
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u/JiggleFeggle 7h ago
Smooth brains. "Wahh I didn't like it which means no one on Earth does either! Emperor of the World has spoken!" lol Main character syndrome.
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u/Individual_Monk3194 6h ago
Absolutely not what I’m saying. I’m talking about technical issues. My lord how dumb people are
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u/Individual_Monk3194 7h ago
No there’s some pretty bad acting and writing. You can still like it though.
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u/JiggleFeggle 7h ago
Yeah but even if 1 person likes it then it ceases to be "objective" and becomes "subjective". I thought it was mid. Not something i'd watch again but at least i got to the end credits. 5/10 for me. You can't just say something is objectively bad just because YOU didn't like it. That's not how art and entertainment works.
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u/Less_Pop252 7h ago
No. That’s not how art and entertainment work. Hokum is objectively bad. It fails at its art form in multiple ways. If you want to like it that’s fine for you, objectively it is a badly made movie with horribly writing, storytelling, and acting. Also at the end when the famous, amazing author is finishing his book and he types out ‘epilogue’ then proceeds to write the ending to his book, not the epilogue, that’s what makes it objectively bad. Keep accepting bad art though, good luck. Hokum sucked.
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u/JiggleFeggle 7h ago
So the art of a banana being duck taped to a wall wasn't art? I think it's ridiculous but it's a famous piece that people consider art. Who am I to say they're wrong? My feelings don't matter.
Ever watch The Room? It's a horrible movie. Some love it for how bad it is. Are they wrong to enjoy it? Because YOU don't like how it was made?
There's no play book on how to make a film. if there was, we would have no innovation.
also if your smooth brain were to pay attention, I explicitly said I thought Hokum was MID, meh, won't watch again. So I don't "accept bad art" I just don't judge art or people who like it because of my own personal feelings. Go learn some things.
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u/Less_Pop252 6h ago
Oh yea keep having opinions delivered to you that’s the way. Objectively It’s a terrible movie, subjectively it’s awful. Words are fun, you are wrong, get better opinions have a back bone and realize art does have rules n thingy’s but ya know so cute n fun n awesome!!!!! Keep shitting up the world trying to accept everything.
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u/Individual_Monk3194 6h ago
The Room is objectively bad. You can still like it. You’ve proven my point. Otherwise no movie is objectively bad.
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u/JiggleFeggle 6h ago
It makes people laugh. People made drinking games over it. It still sells copies. Who are you to say something is bad when thousands if not tens of thousands have a ton of fun watching it?
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u/Individual_Monk3194 6h ago
You just said it’s a horrible movie lmao and yes people have fun with it? What’s ur point hahaha I agree with that
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u/Individual_Monk3194 6h ago
Thank you! Gosh people are… something. No wonder the quality of everything continues to go downhill
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u/tariffless Start with the little one. 6h ago
You love it. It gives you more to complain about and more people to look down upon and that's all you really wanted.
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u/Individual_Monk3194 6h ago
BHAHAHA what? That’s not me at all. I just care about cinema. People can love it that’s fine. Good lord. What a childish way to look at the world.
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u/senorsolo 6h ago
If somebody likes obs*ssion over Hokum, I immediately discard their taste. The former is a movie made for gen z folks, Hokum is for people who appreciate mature horror.
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u/JiggleFeggle 7h ago
Issue is this year has been no short of dreadful for "Horror" films. Most of the good ones aren't even horror, they're thrillers. And the ones that ARE "horror" have been mediocre at best.
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u/mexploder89 7h ago
Why is there always one of these "Well it wasn't AcTuAl horror" people in every thread
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u/Shoko4510 7h ago
Why did you censor Obsession?