There is very little left for Halloween, but Netflix has long since begun their efforts to conquer the public those days. Until now we had already been able to see horror films such as ‘No one will get out of here alive’ or ‘Is there someone in your house’, but there will be many more. The following is ‘Maw of the night’, whose landing on the platform will take place this Wednesday October 20.
Its own title already suggests that vampirism is going to be the main axis of ‘Maw of the night’, but it does so from a more modern approach that to some extent reminds the starting point of ‘Collateral’, the only thing here the driver unknowingly transfers two bloodsuckers instead of a hit man. The result is not bad, but it is a pity that it goes from more to less and ends up almost exhausted.
Of more less
A priori, I expected ‘Jaws of the Night’ to follow the path of ‘Jo, what a night!’ or some of his heiresses, but the truth is that the Netflix movie seems more like an attempt to create a universe along the lines of the world of murderers from ‘John Wick’ but with vampires and about to start a kind of coup called to turn everything upside down.
The funny thing is that the most inspired minutes of ‘Maw of the Night’ happen before the script of Brent dillon put all the cards on the table. In other cases, one could speak of making the partridge dizzy, but here it is correct to pay attention to the main character played by Jorge Lendeborg Jr., who is very inspired knowing how to get the sympathy of the public.
In addition, ‘Maw of the night’ shows in those first minutes its most playful side, both in the way of carrying the story and in the work of staging Adam randall -‘iBoy’-. There I am not thinking only of taking advantage of the visual possibilities of the night in Los Angeles, because before there are certain camera details that make it clear that we are not facing a film made to solve the ballot as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, that is something more present in the initial section of the film than later, including that final stretch where the film is unleashed, partly because it has no other. It is in this intermediate section where the engine of ‘Maw of the night’ seizes, although it is fair to point out that it does not do it from the start.
As I pointed out before, there is something in the universe that ‘Jaws of the Night’ raises that is reminiscent of that of ‘John Wick’, the only thing that here is more of the high command, making it clear that there is a kind of mafia society that has allowed keep the balance between the bloodsuckers until now. The sequence where that blows up does work well, in part because of special guest appearances by Megan Fox and Sydney Sweeney, but also because it brings that different energy that the film needed in order not to repeat itself before time.
Little mordant
The problem is that from then on we lack that sense of vital urgency to get fully involved in that attempt by the character of Alfie Allen for taking control. Until then, it was logical that the advances were happening in the background, since all this was linked to the moment in which the protagonist discovers the truth, but there comes a point where ‘Maw of the night’ gets stuck and has a hard time going progressing satisfactorily.
That has several consequences, such as that the great villain of the role played by Allen – coincidentally or not, we also saw him in the first installment of ‘John Wick’ – never achieves that aura of vital evil for the film. Yes, he is the final enemy, but the inevitable confrontation with him it feels more like a paperwork instead of being the great culmination of what has been seen up to then.
And it is that ‘Maw of the night’ works better when it enhances its more everyday side, hence that visit to the protagonist’s grandmother fits well when under normal circumstances it is still another stop on the road instead of daring to go squarely to what you had been able to raise correctly. In return, everything about the rivalry between vampires and humans feels too inconsequential, something similar happening with the fight for the power of that supernatural world.
That translates into something curious, since ‘Maw of the night’ It is not a comedy, but it does work best when the comic is flying around, because that’s when it comes closest to feeling like something genuine. It also doesn’t help that as a horror movie it lacks any bite – although there it is fair to admit that that never seems to interest the least bit – while the few action scenes are nothing to write home about – there I wish it had been more like ‘John Wick’-.
What really fails there is the apparent promise of a great explosion of action and sensation that never comes. The charm fades and everything ends up being much more conventional than I pointed out. However, boring does not get to be done, but it is a lost opportunity to have achieved a different and special hobby instead of what ends up giving us ‘Jaws of the night’.
In short
“Jaws of the Night” is an acceptable movie that shows its best side in the first few minutes. Then he does not finish knowing very well what he wants or he simply does not dare to take it to its ultimate consequences. With everything, Netflix has a lot of worse movies – and not a few better ones too.