I saw V/H/S, but I cannot recall Amateur Night, a segment in the anthology horror film, which Siren is based on. When a bachelor party takes a detour to liven up the festivities, everyone gets more than they bargained for when they go to an underground club that is more than what it seems.
If you are a horror movie fan, Siren will initially remind you of horror movies like Night Angel, which seem to exist primarily to titillate, not scare its audience, though it happily will throw some cheap scares your way. The story seems to exist to warn men that their sexuality makes them more vulnerable than they may believe and generally sports a vagina dentata theme about the dangers of unbridled women’s sexuality. Viewers are not coming for film theory, and the quality of the film reflects it as the screen is awash in nudity, sexual situations and gore.
Siren clearly did not have enough money to afford the best special effects. No actor in this film will ever become eligible for an Academy Award. Elements of the story will feel familiar, and you will be able to predict the general trajectory of the narrative. The results should be dreadful, but true horror fans will enjoy this movie.
Siren is a delight and is better than it should theoretically be. With a one hour twenty-two minute run time, the film gives us a perfect dose of every element then leaves us wanting more without overstaying its welcome. It is a wonderfully symmetrical story that keeps track of all its threads and ties them together. The filmmakers are confident in what they want to convey, but never lapse into self-indulgence.
Siren’s characters are simultaneously exactly what we expect and more. It feels as if these characters existed before the movie started, and we are only seeing a disastrous slice of their life. Once the movie ends, a viewer can imagine that the rest of the lives of these characters unfolding. Even the hard-partying, dissolute brother is more than his engaged brother’s disgusted expectations. The bartender, like all of us, cannot wait for her shift to end. These characters may initially seem like tropes, but they feel real. Initially I did not care if the four men lived or died, but by the end, I did because the way that they interacted with each other felt sincere, not as if they were just cannon fodder waiting for their number to get pulled.
Siren embraced the supernatural in a way that really colored its entire universe, not just as a discordant note in an otherwise familiar world. If there is one supernatural phenomenon, there are plenty more, and you can take away as much or as little as you want from the story. Humanity is so capitalist that we totally would discover the supernatural then try to monetize and exploit it. While a sequel or a spin off series could ruin the standalone film, I could totally imagine further exploring this world with different characters. Which state is Garden City supposed to be in? I definitely got a New Orleans vibe based on the story, but it felt as if it could be as boring as New Jersey.
Siren is an interesting film because it is about the spectrum of sex as exploitation, entertainment, fantasy and commitment and delves into issues of consent. Every character fails inadvertently or deliberately at aligning their intentions with their actions. All horror evokes a subconscious fear that is rooted in the real world, and in this film’s case, it is the fear of commitment and a stagnating sex life with the excitement of different experiences being completely sniffed out. This film is unexpectedly hilarious because the initial depiction of variety is humdrum, dull and off-putting so commitment seems comparatively tantalizing though still terrifying as a death to experience. When the film cranks it to the opposite extreme, diverse and dangerous, it punctures the fantasy of what the groom theoretically wants with the reality. A boring marriage bed never sounded so good.
Siren did the best job of depicting rape by deception. Most films and television series other depict it as if the guy is cheating on his significant other, but I actually loved that the film correctly treats it like a violation then in case viewers missed the point, they made it explicit. The film uses interdimensional cultural differences to keep us sympathetic with a character while simultaneously not conflating that sympathy with approval. While watching the film, it is important to ask the same questions that the bride asked about each character: do they want to be there, is there informed consent or a complete understanding of what is being agreed to, is the person asking for consent upfront about what they really are asking for and is there a meeting of the minds? The real horror and tragedy of this film is when characters with good intentions still manage to inflict pain for their own pleasure in spite of their decency. The only villain is the person who does not care about anyone but himself.
Siren surprised me because I came to the film with certain assumptions about whom the villain would be, but appreciated the unexpected twist of somewhat rooting for that character instead. If I was disappointed, it was only because that character was the only one who does not have a roadmap to restoration, which is impossible. The movie seemed surprisingly textured by puncturing the illusion that you can ever go back to the way things were before a traumatic incident even if your memory was wiped clean. It uses humor to illustrate it when showing a black and white photo of a wedding party with the best man in crutches, but the ending, which is completely expected, still managed us that you can never go home. Even nameless men in Michael Myers homage masks get a little implicit depth and loss.
Siren had a nice undercurrent of being progressive regarding gender and sex positivity. Everyone is open to having a good time with trans or nonbinary people, which means the average dude in a horror movie has come a long way. It was not preachy or an afterschool special moment. It is a punchline about misunderstanding a person’s request, but each time, the person considers the unintended option, never expresses disgust and actually appears interested in exploring the option.
If you are a horror fan who does not need perfection and does not mind nudity and sexual situations, I highly recommend watching Siren. Apparently I enjoy Gregg Bishop’s work because I saw Dance of the Dead, which I rated highly on Netflix. I need to start deliberately looking for his films because while they may not be memorable, Bishop apparently makes solid work that compels me to come back for more.
