directed by:
Mark G Lakatos written by: Balázs Harangozó genre: Horror |
It can be legitimately amazing to see how creepy some films can become in such a short amount of time. From the moment “Meat Locker” starts dressing up a hog to be cooked at the very beginning of this twisted tale, I knew I was going to be in serious trouble trying to slug this down. I’ve watched everything from gory slasher films to psychologically traumatizing movies during my time on earth, and yet, spoiler alert - there’s almost nothing more horrifying to me than food. Yep, you read that correctly - food. In fact, I just learned that my phobias surrounding it are actually real, and I’m not alone, just the other day - Google the definition of ARFID and you’ll discover I’m not quite as crazy as even I once thought. As it turns out, there are many of us out there who can’t quite stomach the simple concept of eating. Shows like Dexter, with its gnarly intro and its implied relationship between food and the macabre, illustrate the point entirely to me, as does this short film right here in review today. When I see food onscreen, it’s pretty much a given that it’s gonna get eaten, and watching people eat is about the worst experience I can have on any given day. I avoid it at all costs if I can help it, yet alas, here I am, watching it happen. I am the person who does not want to know how the sausage is made, and I suspected (correctly!) that I was going to learn way too much about that subject in checking out Mark G. Lakatos’ “Meat Locker.”
With Illés Dániel playing both of the main characters, a man and a woman, you can instantly tell that this film is likely to be anything other than ordinary, which certainly proves to be true. Cue the eating scenes, which include pullin’ some pork right off the ol’ hog carcass, licking, and gratuitous chewing - let’s just say I was feelin’ pretty squeamish already by the time “Meat Locker” was about ninety seconds in, and the main plotline still hasn’t even really been introduced by that point! With a nasty-ass pig head sitting cooked and lifeless between the two characters, the debate largely revolves around how we treat animals, and how that’s somewhat comparable to how we treat human life as well. When you realize that one of these characters is expecting a child, believe me when I tell ya, it doesn’t take long before your mind starts to leap to the conclusions of where this story is going to go. Trust your instincts - you’re not going to be wrong; and I’d expect that by the time you reach the two-and-a-half-minute mark, we’ll all universally be on the same page in dreading where Writer Balázs Harangozó will take this story next. Off into the ambulance we go to what seems like a brutally cold and clinical facility that is like a true nightmare come to life. The straps come out, and it’s time to deliver a baby the hard way. The question quickly becomes, where is this delivery going, and what will become of this child? If you guessed Uber Eats, you’re not that far off. The scenes become increasingly tense and frantic at the same time, as Lakatos continues to dive right into this delectable horror. Twisting the knife into us as we watch, Mark has essentially refused to make this easy on any of us, and the medically induced mayhem continues to take its toll on your mental state. Again, to be clear, I think we ALL know where this is going, but I also think that when you can tell a story in a genuinely compelling way, it isn’t really all that disruptive or disappointing to understand how point-A will connect to point-B in advance. What is perhaps even more amazing about “Meat Locker” in that regard is that despite knowing where this grizzly and gruesome tale is implied to be going, we still continue to watch it - and what does that say about US? Don’t get me wrong, this is Harangozó’s absolutely twisted tale that he came up with on his own…I suppose he’s the head sicko in this scenario, but still, we all keep watching – that makes us sick too, doesn’t it? We all have the power to just turn it off before this film goes to where we all know that it’ll go, yet chances are, everybody who started watching this will continue to watch, if only to confirm that they were right about their assumptions. Once more, I promise you, yes, your instincts are correct. As the dialogue begins to make a significant shift around the halfway mark, you’ll notice that “Meat Locker” is becoming more pointed and direct about what’s to follow. I mean, at this point, I’m basically holding my own stomach with one hand, and I’ve got my other hand over my mouth in case I’m gonna be physically ill, but I did find myself enjoying what this film is meant to symbolize and stand for on a conceptual level, even if it all grosses me out. Like I was telling you, I have a hard time with all things food, but I still have to eat it like anyone else. I do eat meat, but the last thing I want to do is confront the harsh realities of how it gets to my plate. “Meat Locker” is like a true exercise in having to deal with that, on what becomes the most extreme of levels. It’s definitely effective in making its point, and I’d imagine that most folks who end up watching “Meat Locker” aren’t about to forget it anytime soon.
Lakatos did a solid job of working within a fairly shoestring budget. It’s right on the fence of what we’ll accept as viewers in terms of, like, things like the visual props…whether it’s the food or the…umm…well – let’s just say ‘food that arrives later on’ – you can see there’s room and opportunity for what we see to be a bit more realistic, sure. To be fair, I think that “Meat Locker” addresses this somewhat within its final twist on the story at the end, but as to whether or not the viewing audience will accept that is harder to say. For myself personally, I didn’t end up feeling all that sure about its ending. I mulled it over, and felt like I waded through a combination of thoughts that ranged from feeling like it was maybe one step too far, or that it veered into familiar terrain we’ve seen & read in plenty of other films, but also that “Meat Locker” kind of needed the ending to be what it was in order to drive its main message home. Like I said, I think it’ll be the concept that creates the most significant impact on the viewers overall, so really, I think we have to acknowledge that it needs to get to the final lines and scenes we see in order to bring “Meat Locker” to the place where we’ll all understand what this film was trying to say all along. Acting-wise…I could probably take or leave it - it wasn’t the selling feature to me, but it also wasn’t anything detrimental either. Indifferent isn’t the right word to use; it’s just not the main draw. “Where’s the salt?” Some questions should never be asked in certain situations, you know what I mean? Tell you what - if you don’t know what I mean, watch “Meat Locker” & you’ll get what I’m talkin’ about in less than five minutes, I promise. All of what you see is both unimaginable yet insightfully dark and way too real at the very same time. At the very least, it should get the wheels in your brain turning along in tandem with your stomach flipping over as you watch, mortified. I felt like Lakatos aimed right for the Horror fans with how this story gets presented to us, and he hit a bullseye in that respect. I don’t think it’s going to have too much appeal to those that aren’t fully dedicated to the genre if I’m being realistic about its accessibility, but hey, there’s something to be said for understanding who the real target audience is and leaning right into making something they’ll exclusively enjoy. I’m going to go with three & a half stars out of five here. Ultimately, it’s cohesive, and it’s effective in regards to its message being received by everyone who would watch “Meat Locker,” so objectively, squeamish or not, I have to surrender and support what I’ve seen here. I might not eat for a whole freakin’ week after consuming this short film, but at the same time, my brainwaves have feasted on this devilishly conceived concept. |
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