"Do you have a child?"
"Yes, shes teaching at a university down in Anchorage."
Down in Anchorage. Three words paint a scary picture. Look at a map of Alaska. Anchorage is at the bottom. Above it is an expanse of country that tests the limits of human endurance. It's a place people are not meant to live in. Especially people who aren't indigenous. It's the kind of place that would make you wonder why on earth anyone would choose to live there. What they have to hide? What are they running from? Hold The Dark is about these people and the outsider who discovers just how dark and cold things can get up there.
Keelut is a tiny village in Northern Alaska. A child has been taken and wolves are suspected. Russell Core, a lupine expert is contacted by Medora Sloane, the child's mother, and asked to come to Keelut and kill the wolf responsible. Medora wants to show her husband Vernon, who's fighting in Iraq, that revenge has been taken. Vernon arrives home suddenly having different plans however.
Oh Jesus this is a dark, brutal and bleak watch. It's very good but make no mistake, you won't be in a good mood when this is over. You'll be rattled, maybe a little traumatised, definitely a bit nauseous and despite the blanket you'll watch it from under, you'll feel frozen. Jeremy Saulnier has made a fine film that's strangely beautiful, very atmospheric and despite a final third that will frustrate some it's easily one of the best Netflix original films so far. It's a mystery that turns into a thriller that feels like a western but has horror overtones. A heady mix indeed that mostly works.
On the surface it's a mystery but before long you'll realise it's packed full of thematic goodness. Asides on the predatory nature of man and the effects that isolation have on a species that needs society to survive will give you something meaty to chew on during the slower moments between the horrifying bursts of violence that Saulnier does so well. One surprising scene that homages both Terminator and Terminator 2 will drop your jaw at the carnage on display. In any other film this would be the climax but here it's casually dropped into the middle of proceedings. It takes a confident writer/director to continue a story after that.
But proceed it does and it's here the film suffers a bit. At moments it nearly slows to a halt and it takes on a strange almost mystical tone that feels at odds with what has gone before. It's not out of the blue, especially considering some of the earlier dialogue but it's just duller than what came already. Luckily we've superb actors like Jeffrey Wright, Riley Keough, Alexander Skarsgård and the always great James Badge Dale to carry us through the lulls.Wright as Russell is a morose lead but Skarsgård as Vernon is flat out terrifying. All dead eyed and robotic. Scarier than any wolf. An early scene of him in Iraq lays out the stall of the film and contains a grim moment of violence that might prove too much for some. Keough (grand daughter of Elvis, fact fans) as Medora plays her as a haunted, troubling presence. Badge Dale as a police chief is a face I always enjoy seeing turn up. I'm baffled why he isn't a bigger star.
Hold The Dark is an intelligent and sombre watch that some will find off-putting due to its more visceral moments and it's glacial (boom boom) pace but it's really worth a watch especially if you want to see the direction Saulnier is taking after his previous films Blue Ruin and Green Room. I'm amazed he didn't call this Red Snow tbh. It's a pretty perfect name for it.
- Sitting in a waiting room, clutching your jaw, trying not to think of the tooth that's rotting and will no doubt cost you €800 for a root canal
- Visiting your nearest retirement home to read stories to and chat to old folks.
- Pulling the wrong brake on your bike and losing a pound of skin when you scrape yourself across a gritty road at 20 mph.
- Walking around your local park with a plastic bag picking up after inconsiderate bastard dog owners.
- Taping your eyelids open and taking 3 sleeping tablets.
- Listening to an Ed Sheeran album on repeat.
- Volunteering to clean the grease trap at your nearest hotel, knowing that the cloying, nauseating smell will probably make you vomit.
- Walking barefoot into the men's toilets at any bus/train station.
- Going to the Democratic Republic of Congo with no sunblock or vaccinations.
- Drinking 14 pints of Guinness and then eating a Lamb Phaal from an Indian restaurant previously closed down by the Health & Safety authority, the night before a 500 mile road trip with no scheduled toilet stops.
10 things you could do with yourself instead of going to see Kevin Harte's new film Night School. Some of them are awful, a few of them are nice, all of them are better than going to see this piece of shit.
Teddy Walker (Kevin Hart) is a manipulative asshole who's living beyond his means in an effort to impress his fiance. His stupidity loses him his job and he can't get another because he didn't graduate from high school. To remedy this he begins to take night classes and realises his smooth talking ways cut no weight with Carrie (Tiffany Haddish), the woman in charge and to make it through he'll actually have to knuckle down and take things seriously. But he's an asshole.
I hated this film. It's billed as a comedy but it's appallingly unfunny and filled with deeply unlikable people. The lead character is one you'll want to see impaled on something sharp as fast as is humanly possible but when you realise this isn't going to happen you'll either (a) be smart and walk out or (b) be a fool like me and sit through it fighting the urge to claw your face off. All the best comedies make your care about the people onscreen. This one makes you wish they were all on fire. Director Malcolm D.Lee made this as a follow up to the very funny Girl's Trip and you get the sense something very heavy was dropped on his head in the interim*
*I apologise if this was the case.
None of it works. Gifted comedy actors like Mary Lynn Rajskub, Romany Malco & Rob Riggle as fellow classmates are so wasted and so hastily sketched that you won't care about any of them. Conversations frequently descend into terrible improv and then further into hissing and snarling and the camera just keeps rolling and rolling. Dreadful slapstick is mixed with moments that strive for emotional depth before failing massively. A prison brawl is even thrown into the mix for some bizarre reason. And for a 12 certificate film there's a surprising amount of talk about anal sex. For no reason other than to shock. But you'll just cringe instead and bargain with whatever higher being you believe in to just please make it all stop.
Kevin Hart is a terrible comedian. His continued success baffles me. He uses the same tired schtick in every film. A small angry man who's far louder than his wee stature should allow. I don't know who goes to see his films but somehow they keep making money. He's like an African American Adam Sandler, churning out the same broad, horrible films year after year to an army of fans who must hate themselves. Soon enough he'll have the same dead behind the eyes look as Sandler. Tiffany Haddish as Carrie tries her hardest but no one could make this material work not even a comic maestro like her. Material I must add that was written by 6 writers. 6. SIX. Six people brainstormed in a room and this is the best they could come up with. Pathetic comedy and paper thin characters and then a late attempt to add a touch of depth which becomes yet another punchline in an attempt to wring every last bit of humour out of proceedings. At this stage you'll despise yourself for staying.
This sucked. I'm so glad someone else paid for my ticket. If I'd paid I'd still be kicking a wall somewhere out in Castletroy. This year we got Games Night and Blockers, 2 films that reinvigorated the adult comedy genre so it's a dreadful shame that nothing has been learned from them and this kind of lazy excuse for a film gets churned out.
DO NOT GO TO SEE THIS.
October started yesterday and the usual twitter challenge is to make up a list of 31 horror films and watch one a day and finish (usually with a classic) on Halloween night. I usually try to watch a movie every night so this is no great hardship. I love this challenge though as it gives me an excuse to revisit some old faves and catch up on newer films I've heard about and older films I've missed.
This year's list is a real mixed bag. Some new, some old, a couple of video nasties, some spooky, some splattery, some genre classics, some English, American, a couple of Italian ones, Belgian, Swedish and a Irish monster flick to top it all off. One great thing about the hashtag on Twitter is seeing other people's lists. It's a deadly way to get inspired and to hear of underground or foreign stuff that has passed you by.
Here's my list for this year. I plan to get through as many of them as possible providing life doesn't throw me any awkwardness.
The Slayer
Why not start the month off with a (kind of) video nasty. People on an island get picked off by the eponymous beastie but to the classy sounds of the London Philharmonic orchestra. Look at those teeth!
The Witch Who Came in From The Sea
Yet another (kind of) video nasty. Haven't seen this. No idea what its about but it was confiscated from video shop shelves at one stage so that's a nice reason to watch it.
The Hills Have Eyes
The ferociously effective remake from Alexandre Aja and not the dull and silly original from Wes Craven. Sorry Wes. This blew me away in the cinema years ago and I'm looking forward to a revisit.
Evil Ed
Swedish splatter par excellence as a film editor is driven deranged by the very horror films he's working on.. Made as a rallying call against Swedish film censorship so you can imagine what's within. It's good fun though.
Daughters Of Darkness
A Belgian set vampire story that's atmospheric enough for 10 normal films, about a newly married couple who have a strange experience in a seaside hotel . Dreamy, weird, spooky and twisted. It ticks all the boxes a vampire film should.
Scream Blacula Scream
A vampire is roaming 1970's Harlem bit this is a different kind of vampire. A voodoo vampire. Superfly meets Dracula. Awful but in a brilliant way. Plus Pam Grier is in it and she's always a reason to watch a film.
Twisted Nerve
Oh this one would never be made these days. A man pretends to be mentally disabled to get close to a woman he's obsessed with. Anyone who gets in his way dies. This is on the list because it terrified my Da in the cinema in the 70's and I want to see how it holds up. Not well I'm guessing.
Ghost Stories
The only film on the list from this year. Liked this when I saw it at the cinema and it's so packed with details that a second viewing should hold up very well indeed.
Erotic Nights Of The Living Dead
People go to an island for a fashion shoot and ride each other and get killed by the living dead. Yup, it's a blue movie with zombies. Hilarity will no doubt ensue. Just look at George Eastman on the right. The absolute shape of him.
It's Alive
A baba is born that lives to kill. From horror maestro Larry Cohen, this could have been awful but it's surprisingly good. 70's horrors could be unusually intelligent and packed with subtext and asides towards the political climate of the day and this is a fine example of that.
Dark Night Of The Scarecrow
A simple man killed by bullies returns from the dead for revenge. While dressed as a scarecrow. Despite its TV movie origins this is a genuinely effective chiller that conjures up all those Wurzel Gummidge nightmares we all had at one point.
Dead Of Night
I do love an anthology horror and this is one of the classiest of the lot. Weekend guests at a cottage regale each other with spooky stories. The ventriloquist story will stick with you.
Rawhead Rex
A bit of Irish horror. Wicklow shtyle. Actually better than it looks or sounds. No wait, seriously.......come back.
Serial Mom
John Water's satire of America's obsession with serial killers is a hilarious watch that makes full use of Kathleen Turner's comic talents. "Pussy willow daaahhhling."
Friday The 13th part 6
The most entertaining film of the bunch. Jason vs paintballers and a beginning inspired by none other than Mary Shelley. A highbrow mountain in a mostly cheap franchise.
My Sweet Satan
I've no idea. Satan though. Spooky. Wooooooo.
The House Of Whipcord
Another first time watch from the mind of British exploitation film king Pete Walker. Not a clue what to expect here.
Psychomania
Bikers from beyond the grave return to trash 1970's Britain. Great craic, cheesy, silly, weird and oddly eerie. A definite one of a kind.
Prey
An alien lands in the British countryside and kills chickens, foxes and policemen. And makes friends with a female couple. An absolute oddity of a film. Emmerdale meets Under The Skin.
Grim Prairie Tales
A strange mish mash of a film. A horror western that's also an anthology film. It works though. Brad Dourif & James Earl Jones are fine leads and it's packed with atmosphere and ideas.
Requiem For A Vampire
2 women on the run find themselves in a castle haunted by a Nosferatu. But seeing as this is a 70's french film, he's a funky, kinda kinky Nosferatu. Jean Rollin films are always.....eh...interesting.
Dementia 13
The film that put Francis Ford Coppola on the map. A lurid little black and white slasher movie that was filmed in Howth of all places. It's cheap, tacky and terrible looking but somehow it works and maintains a nice ambience.
The Unnameable
I last saw this when I was about 15 so don't have high hopes. Dopey students stay in a haunted house and guess what happens next. But it is based on a HP Lovecraft story and the monster is pretty cool so that gives it another chance.
Ganja & Hess
Horror meets blaxploitation but with a serious slant this time. An African Vampire film. You don't get many of those. Hits all the beats you'd expect and still manages to be upsetting in places, intelligent in others and genuinely unsettling all round.
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
Another vampire film. Jesus. I love this one though. A hammy slice of Hammer horror. Christopher Lee's 3rd time as Dracula vs German bishops and a hero who looks uncannily like the lead singer of the Who. Who's also a baker. A hero baker. You don't get many of those. Great fun.
Cut & Run
Investigative journalism leads a group of yanks from a drug den massacre in New York to the depths of the Amazon jungle. Blood letting ensues. Ruggero Deodato's 1985 action horror is always a fun watch. Plus Michael Berryman and Richard Lynch. 2 legendary visages.
Abbot & Costello Meet The Mummy
Exactly what it says on the tin. Plus giant lizards and spiders. A big ol' cup of nostalgia that would make the saturday mornings of your youth comes rushing back at you.
The Monster Squad
And speaking of nostalgia. A blast of 80's goodness as American kids take on famous cinematic monsters. So much fun.
Psycho
Even if you've seen Hitchcock's horror classic a dozen times it never stops being unsettling. Norman is a peculiar boy and poor Marion Crane has the misfortune to cross his path. A film that changed cinema.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
A granddaddy of 70's horror. A film so effective it managed to be banned for years despite barely spilling a drop of blood. 44 years later it's still a ferocious watch.
Suspiria
With the remake around the corner it's time to revisit this absolute masterpiece from Dario Argento. An assault on the senses both visually and aurally. Amazing, truly amazing. This one is my Halloween night watch.
What scary movies are you going to watch this Halloween?
Lucy Sat 29/9 CH4 @ 21.00
While muling a new and mysterious drug shipment inside her stomach, a woman undergoes a drastic transformation when it leaks into her blood stream. Luc Besson directs Scarlet Johansson in this bonkers film that has a final 10 minutes which has to be seen to be believed. You'll either love it or hate it but you definitely haven't seen anything like it before. Johansson is solid as always and Morgan Freeman & Min-Sik Choi are always a pleasure.
Pat Garret & Billy The Kid Sat 29/9 TCM @ 23.45
The story of the last days and the final interaction between Sheriff Pat Garret and the outlaw William H.Bonney aka Billy the Kid. Sam Peckinpah's take on the famous tale is a masterful watch and when combined with Bob Dylan's soulful music it becomes a poetic and beautiful depiction of the last dying days of the wild west. James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson are sublime and the supporting cast of well known genre faces is amazing.
Silverado Sun 30/9 RTE1 @ 01.25
A foursome of mismatched cowboys turns up in a small town run by an evil rancher and set out to set wrong to right. It's your quintessential western set up but it's so much fun and so well done that you can forgive any unoriginality. Superb cast in this. Kevin Costner who always rocks it in this genre, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover and Scott Glenn. A perfect rainy afternoon film that's on at silly o'clock for some reason.
Bend It Like Beckham Sun 30/9 CH4 @ 13.25
Football loving Jess is a young Sikh woman who's parents want her to lead a tradition life but she has very different ideas for her future. Gurinder Chadha's comedy drama is a joy even if you have no interest in the sport. It's funny, exciting and gives us a look into a culture that's very rarely depicted on film. Parminder Nagra is a great lead and gets quality back up from Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
A Reckless Moment Mon 1/10 Film4 @ 11.00
A mother resorts to desperate measures to protect her daughters future and a scoundrel sees her strife as a chance to make himself some money. A nice slice of film noir here, lean, economic, tense, twisty turny and unpredictable. A perfect film to wake your brain up in the morning. Lovely acting too from Joan Bennett and Geraldine Brooks but James Mason steals the show.
Requiem For A Dream Mon 1/10 TG4 @ 21.30
Sara, Harry, Marion and Tyrone are 4 people from Coney Island who are all addicted to drugs and we get to see in lovingly realised detail exactly how their addictions tear them apart. A traumatic but a must see watch. The most frightening anti drug film you'll ever see on TV. Amazing acting from Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Jared Leto and a phenomenal Ellen Burstyn will pin you to your seat. Be warned, it's very very graphic.
Being Evel Knievel Mon 1/10 BBC4 @ 23.30
Evel Knievel will be a familiar name to anyone who grew up in the 70's and the 80's. A stuntman who amazed the world with his death defying feats. This documentary shows us the man behind the stunts. This is an interesting watch but may ruin your childhood memories as it doesn't shy from showing a very unpleasant side of its subject. The archival stunt footage though, oh man, evocative as hell.
In A Lonely Place Tues 2/10 Film4 @ 11.00
A screenwriter is accused of murder until his neighbour gives him an alibi. But then she begins to have her own doubts. A cracking slice of film noir. It's smart and suspenseful with a nicely cynical side and full of undertones that were rare for the time. The storyline is compelling and the characters are well formed and realistic. Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart are both fantastic. Well worth recording.
Bonnie and Clyde Thur 4/10 TCM @ 23.45
Bonnie's a waitress who gets whisked off her feet by a criminal called Clyde. Before long their exploits have them at the attention of police everywhere. Arthur Penn's crime classic may be 51 years old this year but it still has the power to shock in places. It's still an excellent watch to with super performances from Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. Watch it to see the point old Hollywood gave way to the new.
Rogue Fri 5/10 The Horror Channel @ 21.00
A group of tourists on a boat trip in Northern Australia find themselves trapped on a small island when they are attacked by a massive crocodile. And the tide is rising. Of course. A well made and jumpy little thriller made believable by deadly creature effects and a nice cast including Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington and Michael Vartan. Greg McLean's follow up to Wolf Creek isn't as scary as his debut but its a lot more entertaining.
Presumed Innocent Fri 5/10 RTE1 @ 23.55
Rusty Sabich is a lawyer who finds himself accused of the very murder he's investigating. The fact he had an affair with the victim stacks the odds of being prosecuted against him. Alan J.Pakula's courtroom thriller is a real old school watch. Intelligent, grown up, compelling and hard to predict. Harrison Ford is fine in a part very different to him usual roles and Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia and Greta Scacchi are good in support.
The cinema is my favourite place to go and relax. A warm dark room where you can forget the outside world for a couple of hours and watch a movie. What's not the love. I've a lifetime of memories involving it. Not the just films but the things that happened in the cinema itself. The smells, the sounds, the people, the places. Here's a few of them.
Going to Birr to see Superman 3. The first film I ever saw on the big screen. It's a vague memory as it's around 35 years ago but the combine harvester scene at the start of the film petrified me. Until the Man Of Steel saved the day. We all cheered and shouted. That was it. I was hooked.
Seeing Avatar in a massive cinema in Geneva. The film was in English but were both french and german subtitles on the screen. And soon enough I found myself reading the subtitles I couldn't understand instead of watching the film. Plus it was in 3D and a blazing headache soon ensued. Haven't felt the urge to ever watch it again unsurprisingly.
Watching Zodiac in a cinema in San Francisco. Wondering did the events on screen happen near where we were sitting watching added a odd frisson of danger to the evening.
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| Spot the Paddy |
Sitting in the royal circle of the Odeon in Leicester Square to watch Shooter. I felt like a traitor to Ireland that day and it cost me £20 for a ticket but it was a damn fine way to watch a film. Plus I could sup a pint of Boddington's in there.
Standing up and roaring my support for John James Braddock when he started his comeback against the bad bastard known as Max Baer in Cinderella Man. It happened before I could stop myself and I spent the rest of the film dying of shame planning my escape as the credits rolled.
My first time in the Irish Film Institute was to watch What Richard Did. A film that would go on to be my favourite Irish film. If I lived in Dublin I'd never leave the place. No sounds of popcorn being munched. No mobile phone screens in your eyeline. No one talking through out the movie. It's just something else, a place of worship for movie fans.
My first 18 cert film in the cinema was Timecop. I was 15 and myself and my father went to see it in the Savoy in Limerick. We were the only people at the screening. Just us and a load of rats. Yes rats, the screen was swamped with them. Avoiding the bites was more fun than the film.
Getting into the Commitments with my parents aged 12. All was well until my teacher came in and sat in front of us. Everytime someone swore my mortified mother sank lower and lower in her chair ensuring she was under the carpet by the end of the film.
Seeing Tim Burton's Batman in Alfie Clarke's cinema in Roscrea. A Sunday matinee showing for a crowd of 300+ in a room designed for 150 max. People were sitting everywhere to see the world's greatest detective. Fire regulations didn't matter in 1989 Tipperary.
Sitting in the front row right under the screen to see Michael Collins the night it came out in 1996. I've never been in such a packed screening since. The atmosphere was electric as we watched Ireland's biggest ever movie play out. I remember leaving the film hoping I wouldn't hear an English accent in the crowd.
Throwing popcorn at the screen out of sheer frustration during yet another insanely boring monologue in Kill Bill 2. The first installment had been so much fun so how could this one be so boring. How did it go so wrong. Of course I felt like a scumbag as soon as I did it.
Walking through the doors of the Prince Charles Cinema in London to watch Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo. I knew I'd walked into a very special place. The film was of course a crazed experience and not one I wish to repeat but just knowing places like the PCC exist would make you smile.
Sitting on the grass in the People's park in Limerick on a balmy summer night and watching Duck Soup by the Marx Brothers play out under the stars. What a spectacular way to see a classic film for the first time.
Watching from Dusk Til Dawn in the auditorium in Waterford Institute Of Technology. The film was still banned in 1998 and a smuggled in VHS was about to introduce us all to vampires Tarantino style. It didn't disappoint and a crowd of drunk and bloodthirsty students went wild.
Laughing during the horrifying violence at the start of Saving Private Ryan because a classmate who was in the FCA appeared on screen being triaged by Giovanni Ribisi while bright red blood squirted from his neck. The people around us were rather annoyed.
The elderly couple who sat near us during Jackass The Movie. I sat there half laughing and half terrified for them because I assumed they had walked into the wrong film. All fears were allayed when they proceeded to fall around the place laughing for the next 90 mins. They added to our enjoyment of the film immensely.
Getting to watch A Fistful Of Dollars on the big screen at the Palas Cinema in Galway. A film I'd seen many times made fresh and exciting again by a restored print and the mindblowing sounds of Ennio Morricone blasting through the speakers. The first time I'd ever seen Clint Eastwood in a western in the cinema was an amazing experience. I was too young when Unforgiven came out!
The father and son who sat in front of us at Star Wars : The Force Awakens. The child was 7 or 8 and I got to see him fall in love with Star Wars just like I had when I was his age. It was a very cool moment.
What are your favourite cinema going memories?
250 euros. There's a lot you could do with that amount of money. You could go to the cinema 40 times. You could buy 50 pints of porter. 100 bags of chips. Maybe grab a few early Christmas presents. You could pay a months rent if you're lucky enough to live in Limerick or if you're good enough at budgeting and planning in advance you could have a very cheap couple of days away in a city Ryanair fly to. What you shouldn't do with €250 is try to make a movie. You might have romantic notions of making an ultra low budget masterpiece but in reality it just won't work.
Paul, Scott and Fionn are 3 friends living in Arklow. Paul (Ryan Hennessy) works in an office, Scott (Ian Adams who also wrote and directed) in a hardware shop and Fionn (Dylan Hanlon) is a thieving little shit who robs all around him to fund his lifestyle of weed, wanking and playstation. When he breaks into the wrong house, the 3 lads finds themselves fearing for their lives and to repay a debt they must delve in a life of crime. The only problem is they are a pack of eejits.
It sounds like a fun watch doesn't it. It's not. In fairness it could have been really good. It's a familiar story but with an Irish spin and some of the setpieces are quite funny but it's hamstrung from the beginning with such awful acting that you just won't be able to get past it. That combined with the fact that the 3 lads are genuinely horrible individuals turns this into a watch that's a struggle to get through. I feel really bad complaining about this because I love Irish films and will always support them by paying to see them in the cinema. People put their blood, sweat and tears into this but all that hard work will be overshadowed by some of the worst performances I've ever seen in an Irish production and I've watched a lot of Fair City. I won't point out anyone in particular but all the actors share the blame.
There's good in here though, no doubt about it. Writer and director Ian Adams does a good job on the visual side of things no doubt helped by his time working on the Vikings TV show & Penny Dreadful. A montage of ill prepared robbery is well done and will make you laugh. A session fueled by coke, shots and chips feels like a real lads night out. Aerial views of Arklow give the film the look of a bigger production and an impressively staged toilet brawl feels rough and ready and the ensuing bloody mess shows off some very impressive make up effects. Those same effects make an appearance later up in a scene of violence so numbing in it's viciousness that it feels totally at odds with the fun present earlier in the film. I'm not sure what point Adams is trying to make here. Crime doesn't pay? Or does it? Or is it ok if it's a necessity?? It gives off a confused message and gives the film a confused tone. Are the lads supposed to be likable? Are they supposed to a genuine look at what young lads are like in this day and age? Jesus I hope not because they do some really quite horrible things in their quest.
This could have been good. The raw material is there and it looks very polished for such an ultra low budget but a jarring script and dire acting kill it before it has a chance. It's a pity but it's a miracle at the same time that this film was ever even made.
Dublin's own Lenny Abrahamson is turning into a bit of a national treasure. In the space of 6 films (plus TV and shorts) he's become a director who you miss out on at your peril. Adam & Paul was a tragi-comedy masterpiece that showed us the human face of Dublin's heroin scourge. Garage was a stunning look at the effects of rural isolation. What Richard Did was a damning indictment of how privilege protects. Frank was a quirky but very watchable look at mental illness and the Room was an intensely gripping look at the damage and ripple effects caused by male violence. Now along comes The Little Stranger and we get to see Lenny's take on a genre picture with a story adapted from Sarah Water's novel of the same name.
In the year of our lord 1948 a doctor called Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) gets called to a country estate by the name of Hundreds Hall to attend to the new house maid who claims to be in pain. Here he meets the Ayres family. The elderly matriarch Angela who clings to her memories (Charlotte Rampling), son Roddy (Will Poulter) an RAF veteran of World War 2 who was disfigured in a crash and daughter Caroline (Ruth Wilson) who has returned home to help her brother run the estate. Faraday is intrigued by the family and soon finds himself spending a lot of time with them.
I'm not sure what I'd call this film. It's not horror but it's more than a drama. A psychological drama with creepy undertones? Ya, i think that would cover the bases. The other thing I'd call it is a right good watch. It's up there the best films Lenny has made and I've a feeling it's a story that will grow and grow with repeated viewings especially when you know the ending and can keep an eye out for things. It's subtle stuff which is welcome in an era when other chillers like The Nun are happy to beat you around the head for 90 minutes. It's always a good sign when a film can creep you out during daytime scenes when nothing is happening. When you get that insidious rumbling of dread and that goosebumpy feeling for reasons you can't quite discern. It's something that will stay in your head. But the downside is it might be too sedate for some. Don't go into this expecting a Conjuring film cos you ain't going to get it.
It's an ambiguous watch. You're never quite sure whats's to blame for the onscreen goings on and Abrahamson and writer Lucinda Coxon use the story and the trappings of the genre to comment on things like the class systems, the psychological effects of isolation and of living in the past, toxic masculinity, PTSD, repression and the damage jealousy caan do to a psyche. Scary movies have always been looked down upon but the people who scoff always manage to miss the bucket load of subtext crammed into the best of them. The ending of the film answers some questions but not all of them ensuring you have something to ruminate on afterwards. Did he? Who was "you"? The acorn caused it??
The performances are top of the range all round. Everyone acting in that clipped, emotionally distant manner so beloved of post war Britain until circumstance and barely contained repression cause them to lash out. Domhnall Gleeson is as good as he's ever been as the doctor who's genteel exterior and pleasant bedside manner hides a rather dark want. Ruth Wilson as Caroline is excellent as a woman who knows she's given up on any chance of a happy life to look after her brother. The sadness behind her smiles plain to see but at the same time a delighted dance between her and friend provides the film with a sliver of much needed joy. Will Poulter puts in a fine showing as a man ruined by war but sadly he's absent for most of the film. I wish we'd got to see more of him because he's turned into such an interesting character. From the little bastard in Son Of Rambow to Detroit to this. This trio and a fine showing from Charlotte Rampling all help ground the film in it's later moments and keep us interested in it's smore intospective ones.
Go see this if you're sick of the bombast of modern day horror, if you long for something more sedate, a bit more elegant than your usual chillers. Go see it if you want to enjoy an Irish actor and an Irish director operating at the top of their game. Go see it if you just want something different. It's worth it.
