Stanley

A trash story about a Vietnam veteran who has become asocial due to PTSD and retreats into his house in the middle of the Florida swamps, having venomous snakes as his only company. He tries to protect the animals from local poachers who are after snake skin, but since those want more than just the snakes, an unpleasant fight takes place. Stanley has a certain trashy charm and a solid atmosphere of sordid villages, but also stagnates as much as the surrounding water in terms of pace and these 108 minutes are way too much for such a simple story. Moreover, despite the fact that the flick seeks to promote a peaceful coexistence of humans with wild venomous reptiles, the explicit violence it shows towards these creatures undermines the global image of the film (the creators could and should really have done without it). (24.10.2020)

Stanley is the kind of trash horror movie that just can’t be watched from beginning to end. At least a few times, you will have to avert your gaze to look at, for example, your tablet for a minute to make sure that you have not missed something of even the slightest interest during those wasted 100 minutes. The film has guilty-pleasure potential, which could have been higher had the pace of its narration been faster. The performances of the supporting actors and the camerawork + editing in some scenes are must-see hell. (27.10.2014)