Synopsis:
When a business man is rescued from a car accident by a widower and his daughter he soon wishes it was the RAC who’d found him.
Writer/Director Mark Murphy ventures once more into horror after the less than successful debut The Crypt and Awaiting is a big improvement. The ensemble cast includes seasoned pro Tony Curran, ex Coronation Street stalwart Rupert Hill (he was Mike Baldwin’s son, don’t you know) and ex-X Factor contestant Diana Vickers, who lost out in the caterwauling contest semi-finals thus ensuring a decent career for herself as opposed to anyone who does actually win and condemns themselves to a life of obscurity a la Leon Jackson et al.
Hill, as a slightly flash, long-haired business man, has a car accident on a country road and, having lost consciousness, finds himself waking up in a remote country house having been rescued by Curran as the seemingly helpful Morris ( Tony Curran) a name which, frankly, should provoke concern to anyone. With Morris being a widower and living with his only daughter Lauren (Vickers) he finds their insistence that he stay increasingly irritating until he realises that Morris is never going to let him leave.
Essentially a three-hander chamber piece director, Murphy reveals that all is not as it seems with Curran who excels as the unhinged Morris and Hill providing decent support as the frustrated Jake whose every effort to leave is thwarted with a terrible secret revealed with consequences for everyone.
Showing at this year’s FrightFest this is one of the best British horror films in some years and provides enough back story to keep your interest and it grows increasingly bloodier to keep gore hounds happy. Diana Vickers, in an unexpected turn, has taken a film that will confound expectations for anyone expecting to see a rerun of her role that won her London theatre’s Newcomer of the Year award. This is that rarest of things – a decent British horror film – and deserves your support
Words: Simon Hooper
