The Blackcoat's Daughter

The Blackcoat's Daughter, or originally titled February is the first feature film from Oz Perkins, and it's warmly welcomed and loved if you love a slow- build horror in the likes of It Follows, The Babdook, The Tall Man, or recently surprise hit The Witch. This film follows the same beat, while not necessarily executing it in a lively fashion it does deserve to stand on it's own merit.

Winter break is approaching so the students of Bradford Academy are all leaving to rejoin their parents over the two weeks... Expect for the exception of Kat (Kiernan Shipka) truly haunting each time on screen; and Rose (Lucy Boynton) who are forced to await the arrival of their parents who mysteriously fail to retrieve them. With their time spent there, we also meet Joan (Emma Roberts) another kindred soul trudging her way to the unknown. And thus, begins our film... A look at three different woman bound by a constant fear, ever present throughout the film.

For a first time director, Oz gracefully masters the camera as he glides slowly across the scenery meticulously acknowledging every shot... From a long tracking shot down a dark hallway to the swinging of a door in the wind. Every detail cleverly puts you on ease as you await the next scene. Kiernan Shipka controls the screen as she chillingly embodies the physical turmoil of an adolescent girl confused and unsure of herself... The rest of this little cast are also good... with the exception of Emma Roberts showing us that she can also do more than American Horror Story or Scream Queens. While good, the film does fall in structure during it's second act and end as we never truly understand the intentions of our characters or simply where the movie is headed... while the tone stays the same... haunting and melancholy. The film can loose you if you are not truly invested during it's final two acts.

Overall, The Blackcoat's Daughter is a well crafted horror that cleverly cuts between three characters while still juggling the fact that it is indeed a slow-burn horror well worth your time and money.

* TBD is an interesting film that is GUARANTEED to polarize horror lovers. It's a very simple narrative from a story standpoint, but what it lacks in narrative it's saved in spades by atmosphere and mystery. This is more of a psychological-thriller than a splatter-fest or hack-and-slash.

* So let's get the obvious out of the way, yes, it's a slow movie. It's a slow burn and I'd even say the climax is rather tame (not lame) in terms of gore/excitement/reward. Yes, it builds to a somewhat bloody climax but it's not balls to the wall crazy, so I'm afraid some will think the slow burn 70 minute build up isn't worth the wait.

* The movie is a classic case of style over substance. The gray color palette and dreary snow gives the movie its potent atmosphere. Throw in a great soundtrack/score (note: the music isn't like "It Follows" where you can listen to individual tracks). This movie's music perfect compliments specific scenes and builds some tension. It's a great addition even if it's not something I would go to Youtube and listen to compared to other horror soundtracks.

* This is a good slow burn horror movie, it's not perfect (mostly because the story is bare bones), but it's definitely watchable thanks to the three female leads. All of them are fantastic! So if you think you can handle a slow burn (with a more thought provoking climax opposed to a splatter fest) then this is something you should check out!

Much appreciated. Sophisticated and subtle. Great job in the sound department.

Those who have not witnessed Kiernan Shipka's talent in "Mad Men" will surely find here some convincing material to make up their minds. The other two main actresses were also remarkable, however for exclusively aesthetic reasons, I must add.

Concerning the plot, I believe it is important to emphasize its non linear nature : a key element to reconstruct the overall "Stimmung".

I must criticize the trailer, despite having been convinced by it to approach the movie in the first place; the allusions to "erotic charge" are deeply misleading and cast a negative influence on the viewers, distracting them from the main, yet hidden, theme of the movie : the Occult. I rarely experienced a more discrete and effectively symbolic handling of such a complicated and debated matter. The way the Occult's first appearance on the scene is connected to the principal plot twist is also deeply satisfying. The final scenes also need to be focused on : they both bring the missing pieces in the plot and offer an open, surprising end.

My only critic would regard the excessive abundance of implicit hermeticism : some traits of the story could and should have been properly expanded (Kat's parents, some more details about Rose, a more complete view of the boarding school, the true origins of Kat's "sickness", just to make a few examples).

Blackcoat's daughter has been sitting on my watchlist for a little while now. I was intrigued by it's mystery and eeriness, but something told me this won't be as great as I think it will.

And that little voice was right. Blackcoat's daughter had a massive potential. Not just that, it was very close to reaching that potential by having all the right details and twists in the plot. I think it was the execution that made the whole thing flop.

When you're watching it and assuming you're a fan of horror, you know there's something good there, but there's also a lot of that "wait what?" filter over it.

It's like listening to an almost good joke at a family gathering from your cousin. You know there's something hilarious about it, but your cousin is probably telling the joke the wrong way. So everyone is kinda lost, smiling awkwardly, and not sure about what they just heard when the joke's over. Then someone googles the joke and everyone gets that "ooooooh, right, that's actually pretty funny' moment.

Same thing with this movie - it took me a Youtube explanation video to understand that the idea behind the movie was actually genious.

I love it when the viewer has to use their brain and untangle a plot. But there's a line, where if you make it too mysterious, the audience just loses the thread completely.

Longlegs was interesting enough that I feel compelled to work through Osgood Perkins' other four movies. Starting at the start, here's The Blackcoat's Daughter, sometimes called February (at least it was on YouTube). Neither title is very good. Also, the movie as a whole wasn't really my cup of tea either - not very good like its titles, but I also wouldn't go so far as to call it entirely bad.

It is, however, entirely too slow in my eyes. There is some occasional dread, and I think the music did quite a bit of the heavy lifting in terms of creating some sense of unease, but I was also so detached from most of it because it felt boring. I've had slower and more offbeat horror movies get to me before, but for whatever reason, it didn't happen here.

It's cool that it's going for something out there and I couldn't call it derivative, but I'm also pretty unenthusiastic about the experience of actually watching the thing.