American novelist Charisma Carpenter and her Brit hubby Paul Sculfor move into a remote property in rural England so she can work on her latest horror novel. Unfortunately, before long, Carpenter is having strange visions (of possibly dead people) and run-ins with surly locals (like the gardener on staff, Ricci Harnett) that have her not only unsettled, but wondering what is real and what is delusion. Is something sinister going on here or is she just losing her mind?
It’s a shame to me that Charisma Carpenter went from playing a supporting role on “Buffy” to playing the exact same supporting role on its spinoff “Angel”. She’s an extremely attractive woman, and fairly decent actress, and I think stints on two shows playing the same damn character have held her back a bit. She’s barely done anything else outside of TV movies and small roles in films like “The Expendables”. So I was intrigued to see her is a lead role in a film. Unfortunately, this 2010 British thriller from writer-director Reg Traviss is a complete waste of time and didn’t even make it to theatres, at least not Down Under.
The plot really isn’t all that different from the same year’s “Knife Edge” (which was pretty bad too), or one of the lesser, later offerings from Hammer Studios when they started to branch out (and die out). Apparently it’s very similar to a segment from the 1983 horror anthology “Screamtime”, which I’ve not seen. The connection to Hammer and other horror films of yesteryear is important, because a few decades ago, a film like this would be littered with British character actors to liven things up with some master scenery chewing (Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Michael Gough, Richard Johnson, Freddie Jones, Patrick Magee, etc). The majority of the actors here are nondescript and utterly ineffectual, as the majority of British character actors today tend to get loftier assignments like the “Harry Potter” franchise or whatever. Like Australian actors, they’re very much in demand. This film at least cries out for a Tim Curry, Brian Blessed, Julian Sands, or Christopher Lee somewhere in here, though. Particularly bad is former male model Paul Sculfor, who is incredibly stiff and is even less articulate than Jamie Oliver and Clive Owen combined, making them sound like elocution instructors by comparison, ‘innit. The rest, save for ringer Carpenter, come off like actors in an episode of “Midsummer Murders” or something.
This is just old-hat stuff and not done well-enough or interesting enough. Look for the scene where Carpenter is put in touch with a paranormal expert…by a priest! What the hell? The film has a neutered, TV movie vibe too it, and the material is remarkably thin, stretched out way beyond its limits. The ending is a complete mess.
The film’s one commendable element is the cinematography, the colour is muted without actually looking ugly, and the scenery is wonderfully gloomy without looking murky. The composition in particular is excellent, things are framed in such a way that you’re expecting someone or something to suddenly burst into view. It’s subtly and effectively done. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly enough to keep the viewer awake and engaged. By the way, yes that is indeed Justin Hawkins, former lead singer of one-hit wonders The Darkness in a bizarro cameo that made no damn sense to me whatsoever.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Agonisingly slow and mundane, and not the slightest bit original. Don’t bother with this tepid wannabe chiller.
