A lonely hair stylist becomes obsessed with the lives of her clients and descends into murderous madness.
Starring: Brea Grant, Najarra Townsend, and Laura Kirk
Directed and written by: Jill Gevargizian
In a time when people have gone without haircuts for months, “The Stylist” won’t make people want to return to the salon any quicker. Claire (Najarra Townsend) is a very good stylist, even willing to work late at night. The film opens with her giving a haircut to a woman when everyone else has left. The privacy seems good at first, as the two chat while Claire cuts away. Nothing strange to see here until the woman passes out. All part of Claire’s plan, and she gives the woman a very special haircut.
After this the audience will see that Claire looks like a nice woman, but is very disturbed. The audience will also get to see how socially awkward she can be when Olivia (Brea Grant) needs Claire to do her hair for her upcoming wedding. Instead of keeping the relationship as client and customer, Olivia thanks Claire for agreeing to help by involving her in some of the pre-wedding activities. These activities don’t do much for her fragile state of mind, and lead to some shocking turn of events.
Lets start with the terrific performance that Najarra puts on. Claire isn’t an easy character to play because of her obvious issues, and constant fight to hide them. Najarra does well to show her character become more frustrated and crazy as the story goes on. She also handles all the horrific scenes well like the opening and ending. Najarra ends up pairing nicely with Brea Grant, who plays a very nice and insecure bride to be.
And how about those horrific moments? The opening scene is so nice to watch because it takes its time to play out. The audience suspects something is going to happen with lots of options, and there’s no rush to come to a bloody end. The final moments of the film might not be too surprising, but the drama of the moment makes it a satisfying ending. It really couldn’t have concluded any other way. However, those aren’t the only interesting scenes here. Claire is plenty busy with her scissors, and even has a place to remember all of her special haircuts. This might not scream slasher film on the surface, but it definitely is one!
With Jill Gevargizian writing and directing "The Stylist," and Najarra and Brea taking the leading roles, it’s film’s like this that remind us why we love celebrating Women in Horror Month. Jill creates a disturbed character and puts her in a position that most of us can relate to…being the person who cuts your hair. It will remind the audience that they never know how close they are to the crazy people in their lives. The audience will be glued to Claire’s story, even if the ending isn’t a surprise. The horrific moments are definitely satisfying, and the performances are great. With that, I give it 3.5 pools of blood, and will continue to let my hair grow!
HorrO
Now Streaming on Arrow
More information at: http://promotehorror.com/2021/02/18/the-stylist-a-hairdresser-turned-slasher-headlines-arrows-march-lineup/
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