This experimental 70s set horror film sees Oxford University Professor Jared Harris and a bunch of his student’s set-up in a remote country mansion to attempt to help a young woman plagued by a terrifying supernatural force.
Hammer have a reputation which precedes them and have been doing incredibly well of late with Let Me In and The Woman in Black doing incredibly well both critically and commercially.
You too shall be surprised then when I tell you I had never even contemplated walking out of a cinema during a horror film until today. 10 minutes in I was bored and by the end (after 98 minutes of ear-bashing, as the film relies on loud crashes to do all of the hard work) I couldn’t get out quick enough.
Boring, tedious, overly long and chock-full of cheap gimmicks The Quiet Ones (in my personal opinion) is an embarrassment not only to the British horror film but to everyone involved.
Director John Pogue is known for fun fright flicks such as Ghost Ship and the surprisingly good Quarantine 2. Jared Harris is a fine actor as is Olivia Cooke (from the far superior The Secret of Crickley Hall). I cannot fathom why anyone involved could have read the script and though this sounded like a good idea. Even the “actual events” which the film is based on have been used recently and realised far more effectively in the underrated The Apparition.
OVERALL SUMMARY
I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone and those of you who have read my rants over the years will know that I am forgiving of a lot. The only saving grace is Sam Claflin. Move along…there’s nothing new to see here.