Pooka!

Released: 2018
Starring: Nyasha Hatendi, Latarsha Rose, Jon Daly, Dale Dickey, Jonny Berryman
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Produced by: Blumhouse Productions
Distributed by: Hulu
Rated: TV-MA

“This Christmas, do you fear what I fear?”

Welcome to installment number three of Hulu’s Into the Dark series. If you haven’t seen my other reviews in this series, I’ll catch you up. Hulu and Blumhouse Productions are releasing a horror movie every month for each of the major holidays. So far, I’ve seen the ‘Halloween’ film and the ‘Thanksgiving’ film: one that was quite enjoyable and one that I really didn’t care for, respectively. We are going in chronological order, so my latest viewed was – you guessed it – Christmas, and the name and thumbnail were not grabbing me.

The photo was of a rabbit-looking creature with glowing eyes wrapped up in Christmas lights, and across the banner blared the title ‘POOKA!’. Nonsense. It looked silly, had a silly name…this didn’t look scary at all. I assumed it would be campy. I assumed it would be another movie that tried too hard to shove Christmas into a horror film. As I hit play, I really hoped it triumphed over its Thanksgiving cousin I had seen a few weeks prior.

Good news – it totally did! Pooka! was interesting from start to finish. The entire film, although calm at the beginning, had an unsettling, otherworldly feeling to it that I couldn’t put my finger on. Nyasha Hatendi (The Front Runner) plays Wilson, an actor who gets a part after a very strange audition process. He ends up playing the mascot for the hottest new toy of the season: Pooka – a little furry buddy who repeats everything you say and randomly chooses to be naughty or nice. Wilson thinks the gig is silly, but it pays well, so he decides to take it, but keep it a secret. Pretty soon, a series of strange things keep occurring, and Wilson starts blacking out for long periods of time.




I really enjoyed this movie. It told an interesting story, gave real life to all of the characters, and – just like Pooka – at times the feeling of the movie could go from nice to jarringly naughty in an instant. Scenes that seemed like they were perfectly calm could suddenly switch to chaotic and terrifying in a second.

The actors did a great job, the foreshadowing and hints that were being dropped throughout the film were just enough to not give away the ending, but they had me going back to put all the pieces together once I finally understood what was going on. This movie looked like it had a straightforward horror plot to it, and it lulled me into a false sense of security so I wasn’t prepared for the twists and turns at the end.

This movie has the perfect amount of ‘Christmas’ in it. Most Christmas-horror films I’ve seen tend to be on the campy side because it’s difficult to incorporate such a non-terrifying holiday into an uncomfortable situation (I’m looking at you, Jack Frost). However, Pooka! has a solid plot that would suffer without it revolving around Christmas. This wasn’t simply a scary movie that happened to take place around the holidays. It was integrated nicely, and I think it was a great addition to this holiday collection of films.

Rating:

Fool on the Hill:

I give this movie a 3.5. I really enjoyed it, and there is a chance I might watch it again near Christmas time. The topic was fun and silly, but it appealed to the uncomfortableness of mascots and the primal fear of someone behind a mask. The personal details about the characters have the audience suffering right alongside Wilson. The twist at the end gave off some Donnie Darko-esq feelings that I really enjoyed. It left me asking questions and looking online to make sure that I understood the ending correctly. In my research, I saw others conversing, confirming theories, and sharing their positive opinions as well. This movie put the Into the Dark series back into a good light for me. Instead of dreading the next one, I’m looking forward to it.

Trailer: