Imaginary, There’s A Bear In There, He Wants To Kill You

Is a teddy bear suited to lend its soft fluffy features to a killing machine? Imaginary sure has a good crack at it. Was it successful? Not really. Can I get on board with a possessed stuffed animal? There are plenty of films that feature a killer toy of some sort. Chucky must be the most famous, alongside Annabelle, a Jack in the Box, Billy the puppet, and even a Baby Oopsie Doll.

The latest in a continuous flow of Blumhouse-produced fluff films, Imaginary follows a children’s book author who likes to draw the pictures she includes in her books. Even more of a clumsy coincidence, she’s also just moved back into her childhood home with her stepdaughters Taylor and Alice. The family unit has not settled into a cohesive flow yet, and the youngest child, Alice discovers a new friend called Chauncy.

Chauncy’s hungry too. Maybe he’ll eat you for lunch.

Quote from Imaginary 2024

Imaginary Friends Who Are Also Ventriloquists

If you’re looking for the next gore-filled plastic and hair-based toy, Imaginary will not give you the carnage you are looking for. Instead, the drama and small painted blue flowers against blue doors lead everything into a universal lore that tips its hat at mediocrity. Labeled as a horror movie, Imaginary barely bares its teeth more than a few times when laying out its lack of scares. In another example of big-budget bad dialogue, this is a title that will leave you angry listening to characters talk.

To say Imaginary lacked imagination would be an obvious statement when describing whether or not you should watch this. I was bored of the family dynamic that appears again and again in the films that seem to serve no purpose other than to be another popcorn-friendly flick. In a weird twist, Dad, Max (Tom Payne) isn’t anything notable and could have easily walked out for a packet of cigarettes and never returned, and I wouldn’t have noticed.

Imaginary Movie

The casting was decent, and a highlight of the fuzzy bear-filled movie is the younger inclusions here. Alice (Pyper Braun) was very good in her role, despite the ethos of the narrative waning thin for most of the runtime. While it feels like Poltergeist 1982 at times, there is no denying the soulless space that Imaginary leaves behind. with the skeletal remains of a great idea about a girl who inherits a demonic entity from her mom, the narrative and everything that goes with it, is squandered.

What I took issue with the most was Imaginary’s universe and lore. In user reviews on Imbd.com, one person accused the film of being written by A.I. As soon as I read it, I felt that made the most sense. However, with 3 writers nutting out this fantasy-infused playbook of horror cliches, Mother of Movies’ rule is that more than one writer means a film is often a dud anyway. Alongside writing by the films’ director are two people who are heavily into comedy children’s films. Perhaps next time Jeff Wadlow (Bates Motel, The Strain, Bloodshot) should stick to going solo.

Something to paint,

Something that burns,

Something you eat from,

Something that makes you hapee,

Some peec of you,

Something that makes you mad.”

Quote from Imaginary 2024

Pg-13 Horror Movies

I have never been a fan of PG-13 horror movies, and this is just another title to add to the ever-growing list. There are a few good ones, of course. Cloverfield was amazing, as were Gremlins and Happy Death Day, however, these films got most of the pressure points right.

Whatever the case, Imaginary isn’t being talked about a whole lot online in a positive way. But for those who care about numbers, this fuzzy-eared killer movie fared better than “Nightswim” in the ratings by those who chose to watch it.

Imaginary is rated

2 Strong imaginations that caused a fracture in the zzzzz out of 5