This movie is going to lose a lot of people in the first 30-40 minutes unfortunately. In the modern world of cinema where audience attention spans are at an all-time low, people just aren't going to stay focused on a movie with this slow of a start. If there was an opening scene that hinted at things to come, maybe. But there really is nothing promised in that opening. Some people love the slow-burn, no doubt about it, and those people are going to have a great time with this one. But not the majority I fear.
After that slow start things do start to pick up a bit and an interesting set-up finally arises. I was ready for this. But then no sooner has this set-up presented itself, before it falls back into the recesses of nothingness for another period. This was a little frustrating and by this point in the movie I really wasn't having a good time. So how did I come to a score as high as 6/10 you're probably wondering?
The ending to this movie was very interesting. It still struggled mightily with pacing issues, however there is one scene near the end that was as well done of a horror scene as I have seen in a while. Rarely does anything potentially supernatural give me the slightest bit of interest these days, but this had me on the edge of my seat. A very impressive scene.
I also liked that the film was in no way relying on jump-scares. For my memory there isn't a single one throughout the film. All the horror is done through slow reveals, tension building and creepy imagery.
It's important to remember this is a debut effort from Damian Mc Carthy (interesting name). He'll learn a lot from the feedback he gets on this film and with the small showings of excellence that this film has he could put out something truly special one day. Watch this space.
