This Haunting Shudder Original Is the Perfect Blend of Cosmic and Body Horror FSalinks

Beach vacations sound like nothing but fun in the sun unless one has seen Jeffery A. Brown’s directorial debut, The Beach House. What starts as an uncomfortable, accidental couple’s weekend in a nearly abandoned seaside town ends in a cosmic horror nightmare that would impress H.P. Lovecraft himself. Liana Liberato stars as Emily, a college senior giving her relationship with Randall (Noah Le Gros) one last chance. Their romantic getaway crashes the older couple, Mitch (Jake Weber) and Jane’s (Maryann Nagel), own stay at the same house. As the couples shakily occupy the space, an oceanic microorganism rapidly works through every living organism it comes in contact with.

The film takes the automatically tense tone of Emily and Randall’s rocky reconciliation and the awkward mashing of the two couples to set an ominous atmosphere that preps the viewer for the Lovecraftian horror to come. Liberato’s Emily is a compelling final girl, using her relevant knowledge base to navigate the outbreak best. The microbe itself proves to be terrifying in a unique way. The slimy body horror of the infected is viscerally unnerving, but The Beach House is at its most dread-inducing when reminding the viewer that the microbe is not malicious. The ambivalence of the microbe, combined with its effects, make The Beach House a haunting debut.

The Beach House

Release Date

October 17, 2019

Director

Jeffrey A. Brown

Cast

Liana Liberato , Noah Le Gros , Jake Weber , Maryann Nagel , Steven Corkin

Runtime

88 Minutes

Writers

Jeffrey A. Brown

The Infectious Microbe in ‘The Beach House’ Is Pure Lovecraftian Horror

Cosmic horror can be broadly divided into three categories; ancient, alien, and apathetic. The oceanic microbe of The Beach House is apathetic. It cares not for the suffering it causes, but it is also not purposefully wreaking havoc. Astutely compared to algae bloom, the microbe is simply acting as a microbe. Many great horror villains have exciting backstories or lore attached to them, providing an intriguing why. Leaning into Lovecraft’s more scientific themes, The Beach House drops breadcrumbs to reveal the microbe has evolved and spread out of the sea and onto land. There is no mad scientist behind the infection, just basic evolution.

Whereas a creature feature or slasher gives the characters something to push back against and kill by the end of the movie, The Beach House’s microbe descends over the town on a massive scale while maintaining intangibility. Once the film reveals the beach town is not abandoned, but rather, all the residents have been infected and turned into zombies, helpless desperation settles over the remaining runtime. It doesn’t matter how many zombies Emily kills or locks in closets, the microbe is in the air she’s breathing. The person she speaks to over the radio tells her no one is coming. Emily is infected, and there is nothing that can be done for her. It’s a hopeless situation, like quite literally fighting the air.

Body horror and gore usually equals lots of blood and guts. In The Beach House, the gore is slimy and oozing. Zombies are coated in a thick white mucus, spitting up watery bile of a similar shade. Long, pale worms crawl out of mouths and are pulled out of open wounds. Infected sea creatures wash up on shore looking half exploded and thoroughly rotted. These aesthetics are heavily rooted in The Beach House’s oceanic setting. These skin-crawling images are set against the pastel sandy beaches and an ocean so bright it melds with the skyline. The environment feels soft and delicate, making the visceral nastiness of the gore especially incongruous.

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“Susie, do you know anything about… witches?”

The body horror of The Beach House is undeniably unpleasant, but the microbe itself is beautiful. On the first night at the beach house, the microorganism rolls onto the land to settle in the trees through an ocean breeze. It is an electric, glowing blue. As Jane wanders outside to look at the strange scene, she appears as though in outer space, suspended among the stars. It’s the most visually engaging shot of the entire film. As Emily suffers from the effects of breathing in the polluted air, her figure is outlined in red and blue. A similar visual is used earlier in The Beach House while Emily is high on an edible. This reuse of the anaglyph silently suggests unreality. The glowing nature of the microbe and the out-of-body anaglyph imagery make the microbe the most Lovecraftian aspect of the film. Features of the microbe are recognizable, but its effect and impact are incomprehensible.

Liana Liberato Should Have Been the Final Girl in ‘The Beach House’

While The Beach House is extremely effective in creating a sense of hopelessness, it does come at a very big cost. Nothing is more frustrating in a horror movie than when the protagonist makes dumb decisions, especially if the audience is meant to root for them. Emily is not just academically minded — majoring in chemistry and planning to study astrobiology for her graduate degree — but street smart, as well. A lengthy soliloquy prior to the start of the drama reveals how uniquely equipped Emily is to handle an infectious microbe. Once the action starts to ramp up, Emily proves to be the most capable character in The Beach House, maneuvering not just herself but her injured boyfriend to safety. Watching Emily pour white vinegar over her wounded foot and surgically wrench out a lengthy white worm is stomach-turning. It’s hard to linger in the gross-out, however, when Emily is quick to get back on her proverbial feet and save her boyfriend. All the viewer can truly feel is impressed.

After watching Emily manage to run around with an injured foot, while practically carrying Randall and breathing in the toxic air, it is infuriating that she doesn’t earn her final girl status. Liana Liberato is not a physically imposing actress. Despite this, she endures insane physical obstacles, not only for herself but for her boyfriend as well. Liberato imbues Emily with a strength of character that makes the audience want to cheer for her. Watching her get functionally swallowed by the ocean in the final scene is devastating. Regardless of how brilliant and capable Emily proved herself to be, by the end of The Beach House, the microorganism has likewise demonstrated how it is the perfect antagonist.

The Beach House plays with themes and visuals associated with Lovecraftian horror. The sliminess of the gore and zombie costumes evokes the naturalistic origins of the microbe. As the infection spreads and devours not just the film’s main cast of characters, but the entire seaside town, the apathetic nature of the microbe proves to be infinitely more terrifying than the frankly impressive body horror. While Emily’s failure to escape by the end of the movie is devastating, it only goes to show just how scarily effective the microbe is. The uneasy tone The Beach House ends on ensures this debut will stick with the audience for a while.

The Beach House is available to stream on Shudder.

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