Once again, the days have blended into one another, and time has no meaning, geeks and geekettes. You know what that means? That means we’ve got to find something to occupy ourselves. Luckily, director Alejandro Brugués, has brought us Pooka Lives!, the next installment of the online Into The Dark series…
An anthology series, the first Pooka film (directed by Nacho Vigalondo) focused on the titular toy — a Furby-on-meth-looking creature — and was ostensibly Christmas-themed. The conceit for Into The Dark was that each installment would be themed around a specific holiday; here, the conceit has been dropped, with only the titular character being the connecting tissue. At once funny, bloody, scary, and topical, Pooka Lives! is worth a watch.
Derrick (Malcolm Barrett) is an ad agent who has secured what he initially thinks is a boring, nothing job: ad executive for the Pooka series of toys. There’s an updated model, and management wants to create some buzz for their new toy to garner interest. Tasked with this otherwise thankless role, Derrick tries different approaches, each more rote and tepid than the last.
Following a conversation with his wife Susan (Lyndie Greenwood), they invite their friends Molly (Felicia Day) and Matt (Jonah Ray), a married couple, and old friends of theirs from high school, for a dinner, hoping to garner some inspiration. Several bottles later, the tragic story of Pooka’s creator Ellie (Rachel Bloom) comes out, and inspiration soon follows for Derrick.
The film opens with Ellie’s descent into madness and subsequent suicide, and the violent legend that follows in her wake. Derrick, frustrated with his lack at creating a compelling ad campaign, drunkenly incorporates Ellie’s suicide in to an online challenge, tricking an online personality named Jax (Motoki Maxted) into spreading the challenge.
The challenge — one wears a Pooka mask, and performs a small song and dance — works much like the Ice Bucket Challenge: people challenge each other to perform the ritual, and those who don’t are tracked down and killed by murderous Pookas. At first, the viral challenge catches on…until fans realize that the killer Pooka has somehow manifested itself. Derrick, being the creator of the viral challenge, takes it upon himself to put an end to the murderous toy to which he’d brought to life.
The potential of Pooka Lives! seems to out shine the execution. The cast — comprised mainly of comedic talents — has great chemistry, and it’s clear they’re more comfortable with a lighter tone (which the first two acts follow greatly).
Day and Ray were a surprise pairing, and they have great chemistry together, no doubt a holdover from their work together on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and it was amusing to watch (and listen) to them let go and drop f-bombs and be as violent as the script required. And the script gets pretty violent…
…which is almost a detriment. Pooka Lives! works well when it’s parodying itself, but not so much when it tries to add any subtext about viral challenges and marketing to the story. There’s no explanation as to how exactly the Pookas manifest themselves into the real-world, and there’s no clear resolution by the end of the movie. The Pookas themselves are an ingenious design: at once adorable, yet unnerving; and with each subsequent set piece, they devolve into more and more grotesque forms.
Production designer Eve McCarney masterfully incorporates the original Pooka design, and cinematographer Ana M. Amortegui works wonders with the sets…but writer Ryan Copple‘s script seems to lack the ability to balance the comedy and horror aspects. But if you love practical props, witty banter, strong actor chemistry, and a new, creepy-ass horror monster, this is worth a watch. 3.75/5 Pooka Challenges.
-J.L. Caraballo
Pooka Lives! is now streaming on Hulu.