Bug

I have a friend who teaches college, and she's in the midst of an American horror film class. We were talking last night of what films she wanted to end with. She thought about the slasher genre, but all her kids have seen films like Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street (although none of them had seen Bride of Frankenstein). She was wary of giving the "torture porn" genre any credence, so we were trying to think of recent horror films that were worthy of an academic examination. She thought of Frailty, which I thought was a great idea.

Following our call, I put in my Netflixed copy of Bug, and I quickly realized that this would be a great pairing with Frailty in a college horror film class. Bug is not strictly a horror film, as there is no supernatural element to it, but I think it's the next place for horror to go--within the mind.

Bug is adapted from a play by Tracy Letts and its theatrical origins show, as almost all of it is set in a dingy Oklahoma motel room. Ashley Judd is Agnes, a cocktail waitress who lives a life of quiet desperation. Her ex, a violent man, has just been sprung from prison and is elbowing his way back into her life. But then she meets a quiet, somewhat odd man named Peter, who she quickly latches on to. All seems going well, until Peter starts seeing bugs everywhere.

Peter, of course, is bonkers, and manages to infect Agnes with his paranoia, and the two take a rocket-slide into their own personal hell. At no time (except for subliminal shots apart from the action) do we see any insect life of any kind, but the actors and director William Friedkin manage to make us think they are there. In the final act, the two have transformed the motel room into a kind of sanctuary of the mind, and when Peter's doctor shows up there is an apotheosis of madness. I thought the film came a bit off the rails here and went around the bend, but Judd and Michael Shannon, as Peter, give tour de force performances.

At about the time of her role in Heat, I was sure Ashley Judd would win an Oscar some day. But then she appeared in several abysmal romantic comedies or women-in-jeopardy films, and seemed to be more visible at Kentucky basketball games or her husband's car races. I don't believe in criticizing someone for the acting choices they make, they don't owe anyone but themselves, but Judd seemed permanently lost to multiplex crap. I'm glad she did this film to remind everyone what she is capable of.

As for Shannon, I learned on the supplemental material that he has played the part on stage many times. At first I thought he was too creepy from the beginning, and anyone with any sense would steer clear of him. But of course, Agnes does not have a lot of sense, and given all that is wrong with Peter it would be dishonest to play him as completley normal from the outset.

As it turned out, Bug was a perfect film to watch on Halloween.