Review: The Boy

2016 Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, Jim Norton, Diana Hardcastle

American nanny Greta travels to England to care for an elderly couple's son. She gets quite the shock when supposed son Brahms turns out to be a life sized doll with a strict set of rules to follow. Greta dismisses this as nonsense at first until strange and unexplainable events lead her to believe that the doll may hold terrible secrets...

The Boy delivers many a creepy moment from start to finish, slowly but surely ratcheting up the tension and suspense. Brahms is a truly memorable character, he has the ability to be completely terrifying and almost threatening without even moving. As an audience you are constantly on edge trying to catch a glimpse of something, a blink or a simple nod of the head, anything to validate your fear of this doll.  The film has a handful of jump scares but where it succeeds most is in the way it conveys it's sombre tone. The film may very openly advertise itself as a horror film but amongst the scares there are elements of tragedy, loss and the way we try and cope with grief. Director William Brent Bell has taken great care to make this a thought provoking watch as well as a spooky experience.

The setting of the film plays greatly to it's strength, the old England manor house is vast and although Greta could wander it's lengthy halls at her will, there was still a sense of her being a prisoner there. Being set in such a clique haunted house scenario does lead to some predictable 'jump scare moments', the slamming door, creaking stairs and shadowy figure are something horror fans have seen one hundred times or more.

Once you think you have Bramhs all figured out the film has a few more surprises in store. This final act caught me completely off guard and was such a treat, the slow and suspenseful tone is switched for a breakneck fight for survival. The plot is not sacrificed even here though, all the missing pieces are revealed and it is up to the audience to put all those pieces together.

The Verdict

Clique as it may be in parts, I found myself pleasantly surprised and really revelled in the dark and suspenseful tone. Acting was solid across the board and Bramhs is an excellent and memorable horror character.
The Boy may not win any awards for originality, but what it does offer is a tense, unpredictable and well crafted mystery with an excellent pay off.

3/5

Review: The Invitation

2015 Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman

After reluctantly accepting an invitation to a dinner party at his former home, a man suspects his ex wife and her new partner may have darker intentions for him and the other guests.

The Invitation was a film that passed under my radar for quite some time before I became aware of it, even then it wasn't through any reviews, but rather a passing glance in the 'others also watched' section. Nothing could have quite prepared me for just what a little gem of a thriller this film was!

Set in the Hollywood hills inside a huge hilltop estate, The Invitation promptly introduces us to our main characters. They are a fairly standard mix of 30 somethings ranging from a gay couple, a party loving Korean and the 'never quite grew up' joker. Amongst these are our 3 leads, Will, his ex wife Eden and her new husband David.

The audience is instantly thrown into the situation along with Will, we uncover and are made aware of things the same time he is. The pacing of the film is a real slow burner and throws up quite a few false flags and red herrings. Every time the might think you have the true purpose for the party figured out, you are then confronted with another reveal or another missing puzzle piece. These trickles of new information and extremely restrained pace make for a nail biting watch. The Invitation made me want to look at everybody as a potential threat or enemy, even when the threat of violence didn't seem present. I never once doubted the character of Will though and actor Logan Marshall-Green absolutely nailed the strong silent type role. He was hypnotising to watch and conveyed so much pain and emotion even through what may seem to others like a blank stare.

As the night progresses and the estranged couple continue to make their guests uncomfortable, it is here that the night takes a dark turn. The film had such a huge sense of build up that you are ready for all out war during the final act. The Invitation however still handles this moment with perfect poise, flare and that ever present sense of control. The violence is erratic, explosive and realistic. Those looking for their horror film gore fix wont find it here, instead we have real action with real consequences. It is the split second life changing decisions that characters make that disturbs, not so much the bloodshed itself.

So this grand finale scene may not please everyone, some will have wanted more but what comes after is the biggest surprise of all. There is a final shot that shows the larger scale of things and it is one of the biggest revelations I have seen in cinema for a long while, I absolutely revelled in this moment and it elevated the film to even greater heights.

The Verdict

The Invitation is a thought provoking and well crafted thriller. The slow crawl pacing, beautiful cinematography and haunting sound track ramp up the tension to almost unbearable levels. An extremely solid lead cast and great supporting roles are all names to look out for in the future, the grand finale may not satisfy the expectations of all audiences but that final shot will leave your jaw on the floor. This is one invitation not to be missed.

4/5

Review: Baskin

2016 Gorkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Mehmet Cerrahoglu

This horror debut from Turkey centres around a rookie policeman and his unit. After finishing up a late night dinner they respond to a call but swerve off the road and crash somewhere in the woods. It is here they meet some strange characters who point them in the general direction of civilisation, the unsuspecting officers however find only terror and despair when they uncover a black mass and a mysterious gateway to Hell.

Baskin starts out introducing us to our main characters, sitting in a diner chatting un-pleastries and wise cracking. This quickly lets the audience know they are a light-hearted bunch, yet they all share a strong bond and sense of duty. A recurring theme is laid out early on in the form of dream sequences that rookie cop Arda has about the soul of his childhood friend visiting him in the middle of the night. These sequences are have a very different tone to the rest of the film and are always presented in a psychedelic art style. These sequences gradually become more frequent and give way to some clarity as the film progresses.

Although Baskin has only a 90 minute-ish runtime, director Can Evrenol sticks firmly to the slow burn approach. This is handled skillfully and it was evident he had really brushed up on horror films of old. He took his time and really let the audience get a sense of what each member of the unit was like, This made me feel almost like a silent member of the unit travelling alongside the four officers. This agonising crawl and slow burn approach made the tension and sense of dread almost unbearable, these feeling are soon justified as we pass the halfway point...

The second half of Baskin kicks in before you even have time to blink and soon the blood is spilling left, right and centre. The black mass worshippers have the appeareance of something straight from your nightmares and are really chaotic and frantic in the way they move. Some of them were lumbering giants, others shrieking and wailing machete wielders. The imagery and locations were equally as blood soaked and disturbing as their inhabitants. Flesh hooks, buckets of raw meat and sculptures made entirely of human bones are just a few of the horrific ornaments that made for some great set design.

The finale however is when things start to take a dive. Once the officers enter the chamber and gateway to hell I immediately got the sense that the film would not really go further than this room, sadly my fears were confirmed.
It is in this final chamber where each officer is subjected to prolonged and extremely graphic scenes of torture. While these were handled well (one of the nastiest disembowlining scenes in recent years) they just lacked any sort of impact. The star of the show was actually the character of Farther, a shrunken and shrivelled sadist who was intent on opening the gateway.
His very presence and image were scarier than any of the blood letting at this point. We are given further glimpses into the earlier mentioned dreams of Arda. these are then loosely tied to the black mass and the film supposedly comes full circle. However with all the psychedelic effects and and jumping back and forth between points in the film's timeline,  it became difficult to connect the dots and make sense of just what the reveal was. Through in subtitles on top of all this chaos and you have quite the brainteaser on your hands.

I wanted Baskin to be brilliant, I always support new talent and open my mind to débuts from all over the globe. The team behind this film are extremely talented and clearly have a love for the genre, It is a real shame that the final act should end in a messy fizzle rather than a bang.


The Verdict
For all it's tense and gripping build up, Baskin fails to deliver more than a few shocks and drawn out gore scenes. This was well thought out and carefully crafted debut by the Turkish director Can Evrenol but ultimately wanders off course and misses  too many opportunities during the key moments of what should have been an epic finale.

2/5

Review: The Conjuring 2

2016 Vera Farminga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe

Director James Wan has become somewhat of a household name in the mainstream horror circles. The original film achieved major success and was met with a great reception, The Conjuring name as a brand and franchise has cemented its way into the horror history books. With the less than satisfactory Annabelle spin off failing to wet the audiences appetite for a true sequel, people were relieved when they got to see another glimpse into the life of the Warrens and their paranormal investigations.

This time we travel to London and if you have any interest in the paranormal you will have almost certainly heard of the infamous Enfield haunting. Depending on what you believe, this 'based on a true story' premise is pushed to the forefront. Despite having a paranormal theme this constant reminder keeps the film grounded in an often frightening reality.

The sequel, like it's predecessor has scares in abundance and very rarely breaks away from it's extremely tense vibe. The scares themselves come in many forms, yes there is still Wan's stylised quiet quiet BANG moments but he also throws in some very clever false flags and other surprises to keep viewers on their toes. There are no shortage of creepy characters here, demon nuns, possessed children and even a nightmarish version of famous nursery rhyme character The Crooked Man. Make up effects are high quality and the camera work is top notch, the film is let down slightly by its CGI elements however. there is a more frequent use of these techniques here and occasionally they were noticeable enough to break immersion and lessen a few of the scares.

 What was particularly clever was how well Wan conveys a sense of helplessness, the 5 members of the Hodgson family go through a horrific ordeal and you almost feel part of it. They are characters that you care about and honest working class individuals. The fact that the supernatural entity attached itself to the youngest girl out of the siblings made the ordeal even more chilling. She is often controlled and tormented by the spirit while all her family can do is look on in terror. Young actress Madison Wolfe gives a great performance that even horror icon Linda Blair would approve of. The Hodgson family are the unlikely stars of this sequel and often over shadow the Warrens for the first 3rd of the film, this change of focus sets the story's climax up nicely when the whole family plus the Warrens join forces for the film's closing set piece.

We see the ghost hunting duo fleshed out quite a bit more here, they are seen attending talk shows and we see the difficulties that come attached to their new found fame. Lorraine appears more vulnerable this time around and the effects of all the paranormal things they have both seen are apparent. This resilience is tested as the Enfield spirit becomes increasingly aggressive. I really like how the human elemnt is explored more here, both Wilson and Farminga do a fine job of making thier characters seem like sincere and genuine people despite their bizarre occupation.


The Verdict
James Wan's second instalment of The Conjuring franchise is a everything horror sequel should be. It is frightening, more ambitious and very character driven, the balance between shocks and solid story telling applies a polish that many other mainstream horrors lack.  The runtime may appear a little long to some but Wan's signature style and barrage of scares will have you trembling till the last minute.

4/5

Review: Hush

2016 Kate Siegel, John Gallagher, Samantha Sloyan, Micheal Trucco

Horror films have always been a genre that gets criticised for it's fluctuating levels of quality. For every Halloween there has always been films like The Visit  or the more recent disaster The Forest to tip the balance. There have been many film churned out over the course of this year already and very few have really stood out. Hush however, is certainly a diamond in the rough.

The film centres around Maddie, a deaf and mute writer living in a woodland retreat who is stalked by a savage killer. We are introduced to her character immediately and get an early sense of how different her life is and how she copes with being deaf/mute. The large house setting and strong female lead made me think back to the excellent 2013 film You're next'. Hush's villain even uses a crossbow as his primary weapon much like the killers in You're Next.

The difference between these films however becomes very clear as the violence ensues. Despite her supposed disadvantage Maddie is actually able to use this to her advantage in the sense that she is very observant. This very interesting because whenever the killer seemed in complete control, she always had a strategy in mind. Viewers are treated to quite a twist early on regarding the killer, this flipped the film on it's head for me and caught me off guard. The film appeared quite light hearted at times (despite it being a horror) so when the blood started flowing in such a gruesome fashion it was always a shock. The cruelty of the killer really made me sit up and pay attention, it also made me root for the character of Maddie even more.

The plot occasionally suffered from some classic cliques among the horror genre. There was the predictable phone lines being cut then the neighbour showing up mid chase. This was an obvious excuse to add one more to the body count.

All in all though I didn't scrutinise the film for these, this is partly down to the pacing. The film built up a huge amount of tension and moved along at a fairly rapid pace. the cliques came and went because the characters instantly grabbed my attention again. No silly decisions were made and I just felt like I was watching real people react to real life traumatic situations.

Despite it's short and sweet run Hush packs in a fair amount of surprises and more than enough thrills.

The Verdict

Hush is a great modern horror film that leans on a familiar genre but also add it's own twist and flare. Carefully written characters and a great build up of tension make for a gripping experience. There are a few horror cliques here and there but well executed pacing and a real progressive sense of escalating chaos still make this film one not to be missed.

4/5

Review: Friend Request

2016 Alycia Debnam-Carey, William Moseley, Liesl Ahlers

Friend Request is a cyber horror film that is constantly compared to 2014's Unfriended. While both films share similar themes in terms of cyber bullying and the inability for the youth of today to 'log off', they are in fact quite different films.

The plot centres around a college student named Laura, she is pretty, popular and has a bright future ahead of her. Like most students her age she is fully committed to all things social media. Laura's world is turned upside down when she fails to invite quiet loner Marina to her birthday party. After the troubled girl lashes out Laura unfriends her on Facebook and this pushes Marina to the edge.
Unable to take the rejection and the shame of returning to zero friends on Facebook, Marina decides to take her own life. It is this event that triggers are series of bizarre suicides all across the college campus. Laura and her friends begin to suspect Marina had dark secrets that could ultimately lead to their demise.

Friend Request is a difficult film to pin down, part horror, part social commentary it is constantly weaving from one style to another. Jump scares are abundant here and come thick and fast, yet there is depth and the audience is challenged where you least expect it. The film encapsulates the youth of today perfectly and has a lot to say about the pit falls and potential danger of social media addiction.

The characters are fairly typical but it is the character of Laura who grabs your attention. She is truly engrossed in documenting every aspect of her life and posting it on the internet. Her addiction and the addictions of her friends are their biggest weakness. The protagonist Marina exploit this to lethal ends. The audience may constantly ask themselves 'why don't they just turn off their phones!?'. That is exactly the point, even when their lives are in danger the characters are unable to remove themselves from the digital world and the hold it has over them. Friend Request got this message across loud and clear without having to explain the obvious or hold the audience's hand.

Scares are frequent and often here, some of them you may see coming, others will catch you off guard. Many people regard jump scares as a cheap and lazy, but there were prolonged scenes off tension here often with a rewarding fright.

The main flaw with this film is unfortunately its second half.  It almost abandons the social media angle in favour of a witch hunt style theme. This split the film down the middle and made for an uneven tone. This was a real shame because the most terrifying aspect was seeing the characters unable to disconnect and trying to gauge who was going to be slaughtered next. Once that hook was abandoned it sadly just felt like many other films in its genre.

The Verdict

Friend Request is an interesting, tense but also flawed cyber horror film. It offers a shock a minute and moves at nail bitingly steadily pace before showcasing the plot's big reveal. It is unfortunate that the film is let down by an inconsistent tone which breaks immersion some what and lessens the scare factor during the second half.

3/5

Review: Emelie

2015, Sarah Bolger, Joshua Rush, 

A married couple hire a babysitter to watch their 3 children while they go out for an anniversary meal. The regular sitter is unavailable so they call upon the shy and reserved Emelie, little do they know that things will take a sinister turn once the children are left in her care...

Emelie is far from an original premise, however the film's strength lies in how that particular premise is executed. Right from the outset the viewer is put on edge, with Emelie's subtly increasing cruelty and a claustrophobic atmosphere the film grips you an doesn't let go.

A significant factor to the increase in tension is the fact that the danger is happening to children, this isn't a bunch of reckless college kids that messed with the wrong girl. The 3 children are a range of ages with the oldest being in his early teens. Emelie exacts acts of psychological cruelty to each child but in such a way that they don't really know its happening until after their ordeal. These acts gradually ramped up as the story progressed. We learn later on that these acts of cruelty are not just random, they are in fact tests for a much large more disturbing scheme. In one scene the oldest child catches Emelie on the toilet and is asked to open a tampon and hand it to her. Although this was such a simple scene it was like watching the build up to a murder, he was out of his comfort zone, embarrassed and vulnerable yet she revelled from it. These mind games were gripping if not frightening to watch.

These scenes are extremely effective because they relied on the naivety and innocence of childhood. The children complied because they had been taught to obey adults, they did these acts without question and even when they had doubts they were promptly pulled back into line.

The character of Emelie was surprisingly fleshed out which in sometimes quite rare within the horror genre. She had an interesting and dark back story which made her intentions realistic but certainly not any less disturbing. Emelie was a villain you could almost sympathise with, she was doing these horrific acts for a very dark but real reasons. The film portrayed her as very human and a villain some people may even be able to relate to which truly an alarming feat.

The Verdict

Emelie is a tense, well paced and claustrophobic horror thriller. With care and attention taken to flesh out key characters, the film shines in a crowded sub genre.

4/5