Henry O'Brien
The horror genre has always been a platform for artists to tell stories that can be transgressive and feature people from marginalized portions of society. With so many defined rules and expectations within the genre, there are plenty of chances for directors, both legendary masters and first-timers, to experiment.
Paul Thompson, a career video technician who has worked with horror auteur Guillermo del Toro on all of his movies since Pacific Rim, plays with character subjects and style in his debut feature film, Stalkers, which won Best Feature Thriller at the 2024 Toronto Independent Film Festival. The film follows a former porn star (Olivia Stadler) returning home to raise her teenage daughter (Scarlett DiCaro) she gave up for adoption, only to be stalked by a serial killer.
Viewers can mistake Stalkers for being a lower-budget version of a Hallmark Channel movie. If there are any uninitiated in the Hallmark Movie, this definition of its plots from The Guardian should prove helpful: “the plot invariably runs along the lines of: high-flying career woman returns from the big city to the small town where she was raised….She insists upon wearing inappropriate footwear and brims with disdain for small-town life. But a series of unexpected events leads her to appreciate the charms of a simpler existence, and to rekindle her love for her high school sweetheart.”
Thompson carefully toys with the notions of the Hallmark movie in ways that make the film far more interesting than other “elevated horror” works that simplistically look at family trauma. Even as the movie doesn’t necessarily have the strongest themes or scares that will make hardcore horror fans blink, Stalkers achieves a level of experimentation and craft that makes any potential new films from Thompson worth checking out.
Riffing off this very definition from The Guardian piece, Stalkers subverts the plot mechanics of the Hallmark Movie. Instead of having a woman at the top of her field, porn star Tabitha (real name Kate, which becomes important later) is at the end of the line. Her star has dimmed to the point that she can barely find purpose until she hears the call about Charlie’s (real name Charlotte) adoptive parents’ death.
Nothing about returning home feels particularly grand for Tabitha and nothing about the town itself feels particularly welcoming. When there isn’t a serial killer roaming around, Tabitha struggles to connect with Charlie and shuffles from encounters with creeps, rude teenagers, and old classmates.
The whole film delights in melding and messing with these genres to package something more original, even as the plot itself of a stalker hunting down women is about as contrived as you can possibly get in horror. The whole experience reminds me of the Josh Ruben film Heart Eyes, which blends the narrative and romance of a Nancy Meyers movie into a holiday-themed slasher.
But the scares in Stalkers occasionally lack in their construction; the tension never feels earned, nor does it necessarily have a remarkable payoff. There are twists and turns that make the film mildly surprising, but the final sequence does feel like it drags on for a little longer than it should.
Additionally, the contrivances and the underdeveloped relationship between Tabitha and Charlie start to wear on the viewing experience. The subplot of Tabitha and Charlie having different real names only to have them start using their birthnames after all the horrible experiences they’ve gone through feels a little groan-inducing as well. The horror film feels far more exciting when it’s at its seediest; one devilish setpiece features teenagers spying on Tabitha and eventually having intercourse before the serial killer shows up.
Stalkers shines above some horror movies that get way too much praise for it’s “deep dissection of themes on loss and grief.” Take the A24 release Bring Her Back, which features pretty obvious and ugly imagery while fooling itself into thinking they are tapping into something wholly unique and original. Thompson’s film doesn’t have illusions about following genre tropes, but still finds room for genuine experimentation with plot, which makes Stalkers an engaging, if flawed, work.
