Scare Me is a joyful ride by writer/director, and lead actor Josh Rubens, whose one-man-band style achieves a total creative synergy. Set in a snowy mountain cabin retreat, straight out of Stephen King’s Misery, Fred (Josh Rubens) and Fanny (Aya Cash) collide, when they both take time out separately, to finish their respective novels. The major difference, however, Fanny is already a famed writer, while Fred is merely a wannabe. Competitive, sporadically creepy, and full of satirical undertones, the film is essentially Fred, Fanny, and later the pizza delivery guy, reciting scary tales.
Scare Me plays to its own beat, with the storytelling taking the bulk of the action as it flirts with an unconventional structure. The dialogue is peppered with hidden meaning and mockery, which brings us back down to earth when we get too engrossed in the characters' overactive imaginations. The film runs in the present time, and you get a sense that you are watching it through the eyes of Fred. As a viewer there is a tendency to lose the film’s momentum, as the repetitive format becomes a little stale, making it difficult to share the characters’ enthusiasm.
Fred and Fanny have an excellent dynamic, and you're never sure whether deep down they like each other or if it's just momentary tolerance. They recognise each has a trait the other does not – Fred’s realism and Fanny’s success. Through our leads, Scare Me not only eloquently edges around social cliches but owns and celebrates them. From male emasculation, feminist populism, and racism, no topic is left unsurpassed. You know a film is onto a winner when in the first five minutes you're sucked in. Comedy and horror intwined throughout, Scare Me is a welcome relief to steadfast fright-filled horror films, truly novel and it is an amusing lyrical adventure from start to finish!
(Photography: Irony Point/ Artists First/ Last Rodeo Studios)
Scare Me, 2020 (Film), directed by Josh RUBENS. USA: Irony Point