Blackwood

****THE 57TH LONDON FILM FESTIVAL****

Director: Adam Wimpenny

Stars: Ed Stoppard, Sophia Myles, Greg Wise, Russell Tovey

Released: Showing at the London Film Festival 17^th and 19^th October

Wimpenny offers a thrilling chiller tale, filled with suspense, tension and your fun old-fashioned scares.

After recovering from a mental breakdown, Lecturer Ben Marshall (Stoppard) moves his wife Rachel (Thunderbirds’ Sophia Myles) and their young son Harry (Isaac Andrews) to an idyllic country house in the middle of the woods in a bid for a fresh start. However Ben notices a few strange things happening within the house and with his creepy neighbours (including Russell Tovey) continually trespassing on his land he starts to feel he’s made a mistake. As more than a few things start going bump in the night and as his hallucinations continue to worsen, his friends and family begin questioning his sanity.

Stoppard, who is best known for his roles on British television, including the BBC’s recent remake of Upstairs Downstairs, would perhaps be an unusual choice for leading man, but he is surprisingly at ease as he does well with the material. The character is perhaps a little clichéd, however. Recovering from a mental breakdown naturally he starts to worry his ‘hallucinations’ are meaning a relapse, while all the other character start to treat him like he’s going mad. This trick has been used a thousand times before, and it’s hardly ground breaking as the plot progresses at a predictable state but its still an enjoyable romp. The supporting cast of Myles and Tovey are great, though there is no stand out performance from anyone as the seems the cast have blended and worked well together.

There are the usual gaggle of jumpy moments, loud bangs, strange noises and the classic quiet followed by a loud musical screech scares. Its so predictable, but its still fun.

The subtle moments of Ben’s paranoia, the things and events that only he can see or hear, isolates the character further from those around him. Although this adds to the suspense, but it is a little tired. An old dog and his tricks.

The ending twist is not that original, in fact it’s reminiscent of 2008’s brilliant Spanish chiller The Orphanage (a far more superior feature). So sadly its quite easy to see it coming, however that doesn’t suggest that all the smaller elements in the build up to the finale are not clever, in fact its very intelligently written and thoroughly enjoyable. Just a shame that its been done before.

The ending itself is not really explained properly as it does suggest and lean more towards the supernatural, but the acting and script deserve more credit than your usual hash of dumb horror remakes and sequels available. Its just goes to show that throwing a lot of money at the project doesn’t guarantee a good movie, when the smaller budget films can pay more attention to detail.

VERDICT: * * *

It’s silly, fun and crammed with jumpy moments, but there is nothing particularly remarkable about this small budget chiller. Although it’s a clichéd plot with a predictable twist, its still cleverly panned out and delivered, and certainly smarter than todays Hollywood money-making horror flops.

Blackwood is showing at The London Film Festival today and on the 19^th October. The official release date is still to be confirmed.