Tar (2020) Film Review
Watch where you step.
Tar, an odd little horror movie, isn’t just a creature feature set in good old Los Angeles, of all places. It’s also the story of the Greenwoods, a family who’ve just lost their business to what passes for progress in their neck of the woods. The building from which they run their business is shortly to be torn down to make room for such essentials as subway stations and Kentucky Fried Chicken locations. However, the construction process came with an unexpected consequence.
It’s disturbed an ancient monster that’s been lurking underneath LA’s La Brea Tar Pits for millennia. Now it’s up to the Greenwoods to deal with the menace after the creature makes an appearance during a night spent packing up the remnants of their now-defunct business. What is this creature, how can it be stopped, and do the Greenwoods have what it takes? Even more importantly, should you — the horror fan — even spend your time watching Tar?
Tar is written and directed by Aaron Wolf, who also stars in the film. Co-stars include Timothy Bottoms (from The Shed, Parasomnia and Vampire Bats), Tiffany Shepis (from Dinner with Leatherface, Star Light and Killer Kate), and the always delightful Graham Greene (from Antlers, Unnatural and Dead Innocent).
If you’re thinking from the sounds of the premise that Tar isn’t the type of movie that’s going to take home any major awards, you’re not wrong. However, it wasn’t necessarily trying to be. We’re not entirely sure because it’s not always clear precisely what Wolf was trying to accomplish with this film. Tar is a mixed bag. It gets some things horribly, embarrassingly wrong, but it does some things right, as well.
Instead of simply adopting a “just because” approach to the reasons for the tar pit creature’s existence, Wolf adds some substance by giving it a context in Native American folklore. Long before Los Angeles was even a gleam in some developer’s eye, natives used the tar from the pits to seal their canoes and craft countless everyday items. However, when members of their tribe were found mysteriously dead in the vicinity, tales of an evil spirit inhabiting the tar pit forbade visits to the pits after sundown.
The La Brea Tar Pit is the only one of these ancient pits not to have been covered over by some portion or another of the city of Los Angeles today, lending a degree of believability to the creature’s existence in the first place. It’s also great to see that most of the creature effects were accomplished the old-fashioned way — with practical effects — instead of by falling back on CGI as everyone else seems to be doing these days.
Tar has a comedic element to it for sure, but it’s hit and miss. It helps add balance to what is basically a film about an ancient creature chasing a bunch of unemployed office workers around. However, much of the humor is more off-putting and cringey than it is genuinely funny. For instance, office perv Ben (played by Sandy Dento) has a crush on the beautiful Diana (Nicole Shipley). He tells her that if he does her a solid and saves her skin from the monster, she has to let him make out with her. The so-called comedy there doesn’t exactly land well here in the age of #MeToo.
The film also has some serious pacing issues, and it seems as if Wolf was struggling to fill the film’s 97-minute runtime with enough substance. Suffice it to say that Tar will make you groan more than once. However, it also brings enough entertaining moments to the table that it’s not a total loss. If you can take it for what it is — a semi-successful attempt to have some fun with a rather interesting legend — you may enjoy it.
