“Ernest? My ass! I CAN SEE MY ASS!”

Story: Ever since high school, actress Madeline Ashton and writer Helen Sharp have been frenemies. But when Madeline steals Helen’s fiancé Ernest? Helen snaps. Years later though, Helen is a thriving author whose 50 years look more like 35. So Madeline decides to go visit a woman who seems to have the answers to aging. But now, a warning…

Scares: None. This is campy, not creepy.
Splat Factor: Some blood, as the ladies go to town on each other.

Subgenre: Campy Horror Satires
Year Released: 1992
Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Original


Trick or Treat?: I remember liking this one a lot when I first watched it. My re-watch showed me the fun, and the flaws, in this lightweight satire.

Her is known for it’s Oscar winning CGI from Industrial Light and Magic, and I’ve gotta admit that even in 4K, they hold up. Probably because they’re used sparingly. What really shines here are the performance from Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, and Bruce Willis. It feels like they all read the script, rubbed their hands together with glee, and jumped in.

As Ernest, Willis plays against type like it’s what he’s been waiting for his whole life. Hawn’s Helen and Streep’s Madeline throw verbal barbs like Her is a sequel to All About Eve. It’s absolutely delicious. And Isabella Rossellini’s mysterious Lisle von Rhuman is seductively sinister. Everyone here dials it up to 11, and it works.

But there is a problem; the screenplay. This feels like a Tales From The Crypt episode made into a feature film, with all the stretched out scenes in the last two acts that that entails. The final half hour feels like they couldn’t figure out how to wrap up, so it turns to a basic-ass chase climax that goes nowhere. If you stick with it though, you get one last snarky scene with our ladies, with a silly CGI treat.

As well regarded as Her is for advancing the art of CGI, it’s a very lightweight poke at the celebration of beauty that never really punches as hard as it thinks it does. (Catch Hawn’s First Wives Club for something more substantial.) Still, watching Hawn and Streep going at it is wildly entertaining.

Score: 3 out of 5 pumpkins.