Reviewed by Aaron Haynes

No matter how good a horror movie can be, it'll always be attached to a genre best known for cheap scares, two-dimensional characters, a basic (and often broken) plot, and such judicious use of music and atmosphere to create so high a level of anxiety that it's like they pump it into you through a feeding tube. Good horror and bad horror can typically be separated by the conditions for good film (and of course, good scares), but by definition, the very genre itself is far more concerned with atmosphere than with plot; bearing this in mind, I submit to you that within every plot-heavy horror movie is a good drama movie desperately trying to crawl to the surface. And there we have Gnomes, like the illegitimate child of both genres -- neither horror nor drama can really claim it one way or the other, but it combines the genes of both to make some kinda weird, and often great, hybrid.

Fifteen months in the making and sporting scenery less complex than the produced-and-packaged-in-four-months JDR Revival, it's pretty clear in the first five minutes or so where most of the time went: into the script. The movie is carefully plotted from start to finish, and knows exactly how to slow down, speed up, and transition between seemingly unrelated material with no seams whatsoever. The most important parts are foreshadowed appropriately -- when the Gnomes are officially introduced to us in an exposition scene about halfway through, we've already seen evidence of their mischief and heard cruel, cackling laughter as the boy looks around him after arriving at the cabin. And when the nature of the girl's mother is revealed, it confirms our suspicions from earlier rather than feeling like one of those tacked-on complications you get in so many 3DMM dramas. And while some sections of the film and a few lines of dialogue are just plain awful (the construction workers at the beginning and pretty much the whole explanation of the Gnomes), the writing is fantastic in many places. The kids rang true for me; when the boy asks the girl what happened to her father, listen to her response. The simple childhood logic drives the explanation home, and we pick up on the details as she confesses she still doesn't quite understand. It's not a child with adult speaking parts, it's actually a child.

That's why, in the midst of good plotting, characters we can actually sympathize with and feel genuine emotion for (both negative and positive), the aspect of the gnomes felt kind of tacked-on to me. We learn of the relationship between the girl and her mother, and get a great deal of buildup only to have the movie remember that it's supposed to be a horror and bring the gnomes back into the story to provide an unsatisfying resolution to half of the major plot points. To be sure, everything that happens is carefully set up well in advance, and there's no real cheating. But the drama is so strong here that the external conflict sort of disappears into the background for long sections of the movie, so it's jarring and a little disappointing when it peeks back out from behind the emotional stuff.

However, the film is so well-directed and the atmosphere of good horror is captured so beautifully that this was only noticed in retrospect, when I didn't have the absolute essence of orgasmic joy playing out in extremely dark overtones on my computer screen. Mike has no qualms about letting the movie linger, and Ramza's score could carry it for miles, which almost happens in some sections. I was amazed at how well they could make long, tense segments that were essentially just multiple shots of the forest hold my attention; This is atmospheric direction on such a professional level that any issues I had with the plot disappeared until well after the film ended, giving me leave to care about what was happening, worry about whether or not the kids will live through it, and using the raw style of it all to enhance both of these. It's very good drama, to be sure, but ultimately it's great horror that comes out on top here.

I say ultimately because there are still sections of the film that'll make you grin at how cheesy they are. In some ways Gnomes is the first really good B-movie made in 3DMM. If the film's intentions are to be scary, the drama sections seem kinda unfocused and dragged out in an amateur attempt to provide context for the scares. Even viewed through this kind of lens, it works. You'll grin at the cheesy parts instead of rolling your eyes, so even when it misses it hits in a big way. I can't think of any 3DMM horror that's done this for me.

So, at the end of the day, what we have here is either a damn good drama movie that descends a bit disappointingly into damn good horror in the third act, or a damn good horror movie that incorporates some really powerful drama elements as an added bonus. It ends on an unsure note that mirrors this aspect of its script -- the final shot is bleak and points towards horror, but at the same time I was wondering what would happen afterwards (you'll understand when you see it), which pointed towards drama for me. It's a curious beast, but here after organizing my thoughts I find myself enjoying thinking about it. That's a really good sign that Gnomes has some powerful lasting appeal.

Critical Score: 85/100.
Personal Score: 95/100.