Spiral Movie Loves Thy Neighbor (Queer Horror)

You can watch The Spiral movie on the horror streaming platform, Shudder. The movie was released on the 17th of September 2020. This LBGT horror and thriller combo was originally screened at Frightfest and a bunch of other film festivals in 2019. The narrative in Spiral begins with a same-sex couple (Malik and Aaron.) Together with Aaron’s daughter they pick up stumps from the city and hightail it to a small town in search of a more love-thy-neighbor scenario. Like many of Minihan’s movies, Spiral includes dialogue that often points to the characters’ true intentions. Here in Spiral, the storyline takes on more of a Jordan Peele slant. Many of Minihan’s films contain the horror trope of illogical thinking.

A staple for horror fans, there is plenty here to either love or hate. No one starts running and splits up in Spiral. What it does have in spades though is Malik, who is never believed no matter how much evidence he has to the contrary.

Love Thy Neighbor & Bring Them a Housewarming Gift To Make Them Feel At Home

Spiral creates some interesting talking points. Societal dynamics include the impact of being treated with hate. The effects on people who are rejected by society again and again. Malik, played by Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, epitomizes his role in this film. One who has been vilified and attacked to the point where everything gives him a reason to pause and assess. We see him here as a writer investigating the truth behind the town they now live in while writing his own expose. Additionally, performances all around are convincing and emotion-filled but Chapman by far shines as the patsy for being unable to overcome his past tragedies.

What’s more, the cinematography is filled with small but effective shifts in perspective. Adjustments point to Malik’s paranoia and confusion. Is everything as sinister as it seems or is Malik going to become off-balanced? Spiral definitely feels familiar in places. It is nonetheless still a well-balanced and solid movie. Details are restrained enough to never reveal what’s simmering under the surface until the final act. For Mother of Movies, it was a payoff that was worth it. I particularly enjoyed Lochlyn Munro’s engagement when all the cards were finally laid on the table.

Spiral Movie Review

I would consider myself a bit of a fan girl when it comes to Colin Minihan’s films. Combine that joyous feeling with John Poliquin’s involvement as a writer who also directed Grave Encounters (another favorite of mine.) Then once you add Kurtis David Harder who produced Harpoon and What Keeps You Alive to the mix, it’s fair to say I went into Spiral ready to wave away the flaws if there were any. I am still waiting with the hordes of other fans for Grave Encounters 3.

Minihan’s writing is a phenomenal mixture of generic concepts twisted into his own unique way of telling a story. Not to mention the caliber of other names I glimpsed when scrolling through the filmmakers’ credits. Brandon Christensen was on visual effects. Bradley Stuckel was on cinematography and, both worked on Still/Born. It instantly made sense as to why the atmospheric tension in Spiral was appealing to me. Much of the production crew also worked on Z, and yes I loved that too.

Overall, Spiral was an impressive movie. One which forces you to keep your eyes on the screen and keep shoveling that popcorn into your mouth without looking at the bowl.

I give Spiral

4 Nothing ever changes around here out of 5

Watch to watch next! Check out these LGBTQIA+ queer horror movies – Carnage For Christmas | Queer for Fear | Riot Girls | What Keeps You Alive | They/Them next. Lilithia Reviews covered The Spiral and you can read about that here.

Full Movie Trailer For Shudder’s Spiral Movie