Tom Leins takes on The Silent House, Lake Mungo and Hobo With A Shotgun!
Shot in one continuous tracking shot, low budget Uruguayan horror flick The Silent House (Optimum) is a nerve-jangling exercise in art-house horror.
As the film opens, timid Laura (Florencia Colucci) accompanies her father Wilson (Gustavo Alonso) to a ramshackle rural cottage with a view to renovating it before its impending sale. As night falls, Laura is disconcerted to hear a series of noises emerging from the upper floor of the house. As the noises get louder, Wilson ventures upstairs to investigate, only to meet a predictably bloody end.
The remainder of the film trails the increasingly paranoid Laura around the premises as she attempts to track down help and discover the dark secrets that lurk inside the strange cottage. The result is an effortlessly sinister, sporadically skin-crawling thriller that ranks as an impressive calling card for first-time director Gustavo Hernandez.
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Reportedly based on a true story from the late 1940s, Hernandez’s movie is technically perfect, and rewards the director’s unique vision. While the tracking shot quirk sounds potentially unwieldy, it actually proves to be utterly immersive and highly evocative. Even better, The Silent House gets progressively creepier and grislier as it goes on.
At 75 minutes long, the film never risks outstaying its welcome, and deserves a place in the DVD collections of fans of foreign horror movies. Inevitably, The Silent House has already been scooped up by Hollywood power-breakers for a Stateside remake, so make sure you check out this excellent debut feature before they spoil the concept.
Meanwhile, Down Under After racking up widespread critical acclaim and earning comparisons to genre favourites Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, 2008’s Lake Mungo (Second Sight) finally arrives on DVD in theUK. The film -shot in the style of a faux-documentary -examines the aftermath of the death of popular sixteen-year-old Alice Palmer, who drowned whilst swimming in the local dam.
After her body is recovered, a verdict of accidental death is returned, andAlice’s body is laid to rest. However, the story doesn’t end there. In the weeks that follow, Alice’s family begin to experience a series of inexplicable events, and turn to local psychic Ray Kemeny for help. However, the Palmers soon receive more than they bargained for, and uncover some dark secrets behind the peaceful suburban façade.
Whether or not it is deliberate is unclear, but the name ‘Alice Palmer’ recalls Twin Peaks’ iconic victim Laura Palmer, and Lake Mungo takes place in a town similarly built on secrets and lies. Although the faux-documentary concept initially feels slightly stale, Lake Mungo has some neat tricks up its sleeve, and the result is sly and unsettling. Although the sluggish pace will alienate some viewers, Lake Mungo is peppered with disturbing, surprising details, and the film lingers long in the memory after it reaches its climax -always a good sign for a horror movie. It isn’t perfect, but for my money Lake Mungo is far more interesting than Paranormal In-Activity, and it doesn’t deserve to stay under the radar for long.
Based on the cult fake-trailer that won Robert Rodriguez’s South by Southwest Grindhouse trailer contest back in 2007, Hobo With A Shotgun (Momentum) is a Canadian exploitation movie that offers exactly what it says on the tin! Hitching a ride on a freight train in an attempt to earn some money in the big city, the eponymous Hobo (Rutger Hauer) is disturbed to find that his destination is over-run by a gang of violent criminals lead by the psychotic Drake (Brian Downey) and his similarly unhinged sons Ivan and Slick.
After intervening in a scuffle to protect a local prostitute named Abby (Molly Dunsworth), Hobo knocks Slick unconscious and carries him to the police station. Unfortunately for the Hobo, the police chief is part of the problem, not the solution and helps the brothers hold the tramp down and carve the word ‘Scum’ into his chest before throwing him out with the garbage.
Taken in by the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold, Hobo regains his strength, and it isn’t long before he gets tooled up and goes on the rampage against the criminals who are ruining life for the residents of Hope Town. Deliberately over-the-top, Hobo With A Shotgun is rich with period details, and director Jason Eisener wears his love of ’80s Video Nasties on his sleeve throughout.
While the movie will provide plenty of entertainment for fans of trash cinema and retro sleaze, the bulk of the action is pretty horrible, and sure to upset viewers of a sensitive disposition. Nevertheless, a neat homage, well-executed, and a welcome opportunity to see Rutger Hauer back in the limelight. Grotesque stuff.
- Interview: Billy O’Brien and William Todd-Jones - March 2, 2017
- The Childhood of a Leader: the birth of a terrifying ego - February 10, 2017
- Hold your breath: Don’t Breathe, and more reviews - January 26, 2017
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