The Most Controversial Horror Movie Of The Year Is Now Streaming
Whether you’ve heard good things or bad things, there’s no doubt that the majority of readers out there have heard at least something about Kyle Edward Ball’s horror feature, Skinamarink. While, following its theatrical release, the film could only be streamed on Shudder, Hulu subscribers can now unlock the spooky story as the title has made its way onto the platform.
Finding itself alongside other genre favorites like Infinity Pool, Queen of the Damned, and The Craft, Skinamarink is the perfect way to close out your week on a spooky note.
Drawing in inspiration from some of his favorite creative visionaries, Ball has said that he used works from directors including Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Maya Deren, Chantal Akerman, and Stan Brakhage to shape his cinematography.
In Kyle Edward Ball’s feature-length directorial debut, Skinamarink centers around two children who are shocked out of sleep one night only to find that their father has disappeared. To make it even more freaky, other important pieces of their home – including windows and doors – are also vanishing in the night, leaving the scared kids completely on their own and trapped inside.
While this served as Ball’s first time making a full-length film, the director had a long line of shorts under his belt prior.
YouTube Leads To Skinamarink
First getting his start on YouTube, much like Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou, Ball’s idea for Skinamarink was born from a love of creating strange and terrifying projects on any scale possible. Turning to his followers for ideas, Ball, under the channel name of Bitesized Nightmares, used real nightmares as the base of his productions. As for Skinamarink, the movie got its start from the filmmaker’s 2020 short film, Heck.
Cutting down on expenses where he was able, the Canadian native filmed Skinamarink in his childhood home in Edmonton, Canada. Sticking to its roots, the film premiered at Montreal’s 26th Fantasia Film Festival before moving on to other festivals.
A primarily crowd-funded project, Skinamarink cost only $15,000 to make, meaning that its $2 million box office earnings made it a financial success.
After a free marketing campaign that was done by word of mouth, the title was picked up by IFC Midnight in early 2023 for a cinematic release across the United States and Canada.
Using a primarily up-and-coming cast, Ball, who also penned the screenplay for Skinamarink, signed Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault, Ross Paul, and Jaime Hill as the film’s four stars. Drawing in inspiration from some of his favorite creative visionaries, Ball has said that he used works from directors including Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Maya Deren, Chantal Akerman, and Stan Brakhage to shape his cinematography.
A primarily crowd-funded project, Skinamarink cost only $15,000 to make, meaning that its $2 million box office earnings made it a financial success. As for its critical reception, the title was widely applauded by the industry as it brought certain horrors of childhood to life, giving fears perhaps long forgotten a fresh big-screen makeover.
Audiences, however, remain torn on the production with some loving the direction that it took while others pan it for being overrated.
Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that Skinamarink was one of 2022’s most talked-about and unanticipatedly successful films of not only the horror genre but across the board. Head over to Hulu to see what all the fuss is about and form your own opinion on whether the film is a stroke of pure genius or just another overrated project.
