It's very interesting that the first thing I thought to write here was "poor Martin." And that's what's ridiculously effective about this movie--you're on Martin's side, despite the fact that the
first scene involves, you know, killing a girl and drinking her blood. But his depiction as a "real life" vampire is contrasted with his crazy religious old man cousin muttering about Nosferatu and threatening to kill him without salvation so it's clear who the protagonist is meant to be. Even if he kills people. SO GOOD.
Also, the setting of the town, which is a real town in Pennsylvania, is so gorgeously grimy and rundown. I wish I took more screencaps of it while I was watching. Everything is old--and so is everyone--and there's so much talk of the old ways and old fears, it fits perfectly.
Safe is such a scary movie. I liked the insidious hum of the 20th century in the background of every setting, and the slow unraveling of her well-being was pretty chilling. The final segment didn't work as well for me than the rest of it, though, and I'm not sure why. I guess it was effective in a different way, as it was the part where the film sort of...expanded. The change in setting was pretty powerful...the first parts of the film were filled with tiny claustrophobic places in the city and her home, and then the end of the film brings her to this wide open desert but she ends up this tiny safe house anyway where obviously nothing will be solved. She keeps saying she's getting better and things will get better as the exact opposite is happening.
