Elfie Hopkins: Cannibal Hunter

I wanted to like ELFIE HOPKINS but wasn't really sure what to think. The film itself is a misguided little mystery mixed with horror and blackly comic overtones. The main problem it suffers from is that Jaime Winstone is a pretty poor and unlikeable lead actress and the supposed comedy double act of her and her pot-smoking friend doesn't come across very well, these characters feel desperately like they want to be an likable awkward hero a la SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD but they just feel irritating and self-centred.

Otherwise the small-town mystery is built up nicely and I particularly liked the kooky members of Gammon family, lead by the dastardly Rupert Evans (a guy well versed in playing baddies after this and his turn in the TV miniseries WORLD WITHOUT END). But ELFIE HOPKINS is better at building atmosphere than it is incident, and the action when it hits is very poorly handled and cheap-looking. This is particularly noticeable in the climax, which should be a large-scale and exciting set-piece but instead which comes across as completely lacklustre and disappointing thanks to indifferent direction. CGI blood effects don't really help either. This film is an interesting stab at doing something different but it's only semi-successful in my opinion.

I never thought such a standard horror could be this pretentious. Surely all that is needed are a few thrills, jumps and please stop pretending to be anything different! Job done!

If you like the dark humor of the Seth MacFarlane animated sitcoms, perhaps you will like this. It was described as a horror movie in the TV listings I saw, but it's not really a horror movie. More of a creepy comedy/mystery. Toward the end it does become quite violent and the laughs stop. Not everyone is going to survive to the end, and as is often true with horror movies, even someone you care about is not safe.

Despite her "whatEVER" attitude toward everything, I had to like Elfie. I know nothing about Jamie Winstone but there's something adorable about her, despite her hate for the world and lack of concern for her looks, though somehow she looks sort of pretty.

Aneurin Barnard I have never heard of, but Dylan was very likable. I did find one thing strange: Dylan is a computer genius but this movie was made in 2012. If it was set at that time, why is Dylan using 1992 computer technology? He uses what is essentially the Internet but gets there the way geeks did when people in general started using PCs.

Rupert Evans as the mysterious neighbor shows quite a range, going from friendly to downright creepy in a humorous way.

Ray Winstone is memorable as a butcher who is also a creepy storyteller.

Either one actress is either really good at pretending to be still or someone really talented recreated her head. You might either love the scene for its humor or be totally repulsed by it.

Is it good? Well, I did enjoy it as long as it was funny. The ending is effective if not pleasant.

This is much better than reviews would suggest. On a scale of 0-10 for flawed films where 0 = The Wicker Tree (flawed and bad), 5 = Ginger Snaps (flawed but good), 10 = Dellamorte Dellamore, aka Cemetery Man (flawed but brilliant), this rates 5 +/- 1, depending on what you think of the acting.

The film itself is well shot, well conceived and well executed. Compared to utter crud like Jeepers Creepers, this is in a different league when it comes to intention and execution. If Amicus produced Midsomer Murders, it could be something like this.

There are annoyances: poor dialogue, clichéd characterisation but also pleasant surprises: my heart sank a little when the film began with a girl (our heroine, a "final girl" right from the start: she just doesn't realise it) getting out of a car that won't start on a country lane. Nicely subverted when she walks a little distance and is home.

It is a first feature and has maybe a few too many references but, on the whole, its sly humour works well. I've watched an awful lot of crap horror in the so-bad-it's-good category: this is not one of those.

It's a proper film and is worth a look.

Bored stoner Elfie Hopkins (Jaime Winston) tries to make village life a little more interesting by dabbling in amateur detective work, investigating the lives of other locals with a little help from fellow weed-toker Dylan (Aneurin Barnard). When a sophisticated city family, The Gammons, moves into the house next door, Elfie's investigative nature begins to tell her something isn't quite right with her new neighbours. Digging into their background, she uncovers a horrific secret that puts the lives of her nearest and dearest in mortal danger.

It took me a while to warm to Elfie Hopkins: at first I found the central character rather irritating, Jaime Winston's attempts at cool and quirky seeming just a little too calculated to appeal to the cult movie contingent (her lovable slacker routine reminding me a little of Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead). But as the story progressed, the film gradually started to grow on me, Winston's appeal winning through, the whimsical nature of the story and creepy antagonists slowly getting under the skin. By the time all becomes clear for the final act, I actually found myself enjoying proceedings. The finalé is a real crowd-pleaser, Elfie tooling up for a revenge-driven gore-fest that really gets the blood pumping.

To sum up: the film's offbeat and rather relaxed approach makes it hard to get involved, but perseverance pays off, with a particularly fun finish. A sequel with Elfie investigating even more outlandish situations wouldn't be entirely unwelcome. 6/10, although a repeat viewing might see me bump my rating up to 7.