Gaia vs Fried Barry: two SA horror movies go head to head

The kids who grew up in the 80s are now making horror movies. This tidbit should frighten you to the core because this generation were literally raised on horror in the age of Poltergeist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, The Shining, The Thing, Friday the 13th, The Evil Dead and It. This may all seem like “child’s play” but this thick, slow-creeping sludge of nightmare-induced nothingness is fuelling a horror renaissance both at home and abroad.

Ratcheting up the chills are South African horror movies Gaia and Fried Barry, two dark and twisted visions that pulsate with imaginative visuals and driving soundtracks. Both visually entrancing entities have emanated from the dark at a similar time and exhibit an array of qualities that make them world class. Much like the natural progression of Alien and Predator, it inevitably leads to them going head to head. Luckily, whatever happens… they’re both streaming on Showmax – just in time for Halloween, with Gaia landing on 31 October 2022.

The plot

Gaia and Fried Barry both have strong and compelling body horror concepts that immerse you in a world not far from our own.

The word “Gaia” typically refers to a mythological Mother Earth, the ancestral bearer of all life. In the ecological horror thriller with the same name, this becomes the tangled playground for an unusual encounter between rangers and survivalists. When two forest rangers are capturing data from various checkpoints, the situation escalates to an emergency when Gabi is injured by a hunting trap as something runs rampant through the woods.

She’s rescued by a father-son team, but all is not what it seems as the primordial forest begins to consume their thoughts and flesh.

Fried Barry is a sci-fi horror thriller that centres on an unsuspecting slacker named Barry. He skulks the streets by day but it’s not long before he’s strutting his stuff by night. When an alien decides to inhabit an earthling, it’s Barry’s body that becomes host to a series of extreme human experiences.

From trawling Long Street’s nightlife for kicks to dancing like a maniac only to copulate with willing partners, Fried Barry’s visceral expedition finds him touring psychiatric wards and even enduring torture.

Watch: More South African horror

The cast

Gaia and Fried Barry rely on strong performances. Gaia’s tight-knit ensemble keeps the slow-burning mystery smouldering while Fried Barry features a burgeoning cast headlined by an iconic lead. 

Gaia’s cast is small but represents some of South Africa’s finest acting talent. Monique Rockman was an absolute force in Nommer 37 and offers an equally adept and impressionable performance as Gabi. Anthony Oseyemi has a key role as the hero-in-waiting Winston. Carel Nel has become a familiar favourite when it comes to local horror and sci-fi, leaning into his role as Barend, a more organic and self-deluded version of Captain Fantastic. While Alex van Dyk doesn’t have many lines as Stefan, he carries an aura of disturbed mystique also present in his memorable performances in Die Stropers and Griekwastad. 

Fried Barry wouldn’t be Fried Barry without the inimitable Gary Green. Going full tilt into an iconic and indelible performance, he literally makes himself a vessel for the character’s body-snatcher, contorting his face and limbs for an utterly convincing physical transformation.

He’s ably supported by Chanelle de Jager as his partner Suz and a sprawling cast including Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Jonathan Pienaar and Sean Cameron Michael. While most of the supporting cast’s roles are fleeting, it’s Sean Cameron Michael whose turn as a delusional patient earned him a SAFTA nomination.

The visuals

Gaia and Fried Barry could have been adapted from graphic novels. Their visuals, production design and VFX bring their imaginative and frightening worlds to life with eye-popping style.

Being set in a lush forest, Gaia has similarities with Predator as an unidentified creature terrorises human invaders. Leveraging its locations and backdrops, a cabin becomes a shelter for Gabi to heal under the supervision of her carers. Starting with drone shots from an actual drone to a claustrophobic dwelling and vivid dreams, Gaia creates a dank world where things fester. It’s a surreal expedition into the unknown, moving from the familiar to craft a strange place suspended between reality and mythology. Gliding seamlessly, blending visual effects without question and keeping a good balance of real versus unreal, its aesthetic remains captivating and visceral.

There’s never a dull moment in Fried Barry, as it serves up a double scoop of grind-house thrills. Creating a series of heightened cinematic moments ranging from shock horror to pure ecstasy, this sci-fi horror thriller is a sensory work out. Its stylish visuals are relentless, a barrage of insanity, launching you from one escapade to the next as a disturbing, nightmarish and trippy journey unfolds. Led by a seemingly innocent being just wanting to experiment with the human condition, it’s powered by playful debauchery, casual brutality and enhanced by a kaleidoscopic colour palette.

Whether thrashing about at a nightclub, indulging in hedonistic pursuits or just getting a beatdown, Fried Barry’s all about seizing the most impactful moment. 

The thrills

Gaia and Fried Barry are both body horror thrillers that infuse other story elements from an ecological slant to science fiction. Slinking into the realm of cultists and an out-of-body experience, both films have an underlying creepiness that grows sporadically.

Gaia swathes its audience in mystery, always in a state of flux, cleverly obscuring its see-sawing heroes and villains to create suspense. A broader ecological commentary about man versus nature plays out as devout survivalists try to rescue and convert their new patient. The ulterior motives behind the rescue summon up a prickly atmosphere as Gabi’s new role becomes more apparent.

Sexual tension, eerie tree hollows, lucid dreams and strange bodily growths instil an uneasiness as the precarious situation spirals out of control. There are some scary knife’s-edge moments but Gaia is an elegant horror that is more content to simmer in its primordial soup as grotesque things bubble up.

Fried Barry is about as in-your-face as it gets. Its wicked sense of humour helps buffer some of the trashy shock value yet redoubles its creepy undercurrent. Brash, hedonistic and violent, the sci-fi horror thriller plays like a road movie as Barry’s body gets a test drive.

There’s an episodic quality to the scenes, which makes sense considering the film was written as a scene breakdown with most of the dialogue improvised or composed on set. Having this natural anything-goes flow gives it spontaneity. While it’s not necessarily scary, it is a thrill ride blending the electrifying highs of a rollercoaster with the unsettling atmosphere of a house of horrors carnival ride.

The verdict

Both films are atmospheric, bold, surreal, visually captivating and spearheaded by sharp performances. Gaia’s slow-burning elegance and unsettling intimacy is a more focussed experience in contrast to Fried Barry’s relentless, trippy and freaky all-or-nothing blast of imaginative energy.

If you want to be swathed in horror chills, choose Gaia. If you’d prefer to be stripped naked and covered in tar and feathers, pick Fried Barry.