Shriekfest 2014 Preview – The home invasion theme is one revisited time and again by filmmakers, and is the inherent human fear upon which Audrey Cummings has built her film Berkshire County. With such abundance comes inevitable and unavoidable comparison and as such Cummings’ debut feature suffers slightly up against Adam Wingard’s bigger budget You’re Next and the hugely impressive White Settlers from Simeon Halligan. Berkshire County does however contain enough originality and successful genre references to engage the audience.
Kylie Winters (Alysa King) is a teen with problems. Bullied by her school mates and coerced into performing a sex act on a popular boy at a party she is pushed to the point of breakdown when footage of the encounter is played out around her town. Reluctantly forced by her mother into a babysitting job on Halloween Kylie is tormented by more violent trick or treater’s than she could possibly have expected.
Simple premises that are well executed always work well. With Berkshire County this is very much the case as Cummings takes the unfortunate Kylie through a night of terror as she struggles to protect her two young charges. The persistent, almost suffocating threat posed by the three pig-masked (which seems to be the animal of choice for anyone wanting to terrorise a household) intruders is palpable and unflinching as a campaign of systematic brutality is embarked upon.
The fear is genuine and you are drawn into the deadly game of cat and mouse as Kylie’s attempts at escape are foiled on each occasion. There is a style to the direction that is never gratuitous, avoiding unnecessary attention grabbing and obvious scares for a more unsettling approach. The performances are solid, although some of the characters are possibly a little stereotypical, but the inclusion of a child as one of the protagonists draws a curious empathy for a character whose lack of innocence contrasts directly with that of the two children under attack.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The biggest problem faced by Cummings though is a possible weariness from an audience who will presume to have seen it all before. From the masks to the intruders approach there are many familiar tropes and it’s only when you look beyond these standards that you can appreciate the film for what it is. On the surface Berkshire County is a routine home invasion horror but judged on its own merits it is an interesting film that deserves a position of note in the canon. This is a film will wholly entertain while viewing but ultimately may blend into one along with its many thematic cousins over time. The World Premiere of Berkshire County is at 8.00pm on Sunday 5th October.
