WARNING: This Article Contains Spoilers
This originally started out as a British Horror article but it was gradually becoming English-heavy. So, I have decided to separate the English from their Celtic neighbours and present you with both a beloved film of mine and those that are completely new to me – but that’s what this journey is about right? Discovering new films together and making opinions…
Nails
I’m just going to start off by saying that Dana’s demise is a little extreme! I get that Nails has had to wait 20-30 years to get his hands on her but damn! Does he really need to smash her against walls repeatedly? Maybe it’s an effect of being dead because it’s really out of character from the way they described him killing the young girls when he was alive. Now that that’s out of the way, the rest of the film drags slightly in places. Don’t get me wrong, I jumped a little bit with the banging on the wall and the opening of the cupboard but I think they started to take the jump scares a little too far. Less is more people, just saying. Also, I’m pretty let down (if what Nails shows Dana is true) by the fact that it turned out her husband was genuinely having an affair. I know it’s not exactly important to the story, but it would have been nice for not to have been right about it at least.
White Settlers
I do not understand this film! I don’t mean in the sense of its so clever I don’t understand it, I mean that it feels like there’s so much missing that I can’t make sense of it. Maybe you’re supposed to make your own assumptions on why these piggy men have decided to attack our protagonists, Sarah and Ed, based off what we are told by the estate agent at the beginning of the film because even with 10 minutes left, nothing is explained! For me that is a real let down because it could have been so much better. Other home invasion horrors are much more intense and the motivation is easily worked out without any explanation but this, in the end, comes across really rushed. In the last two minutes it is revealed that clearly these people had something to do with the old man that had died there.
Saint Maud
For the majority of the run time, this film will make you feel more uncomfortable that scared and you may sit there wondering, like I did, how does that fit in the horror genre. Honestly, wait till the end. It made me sit up and take notice because it did not go the way I expected. I’ve never watched a film that shot boiling tomato soup in such a way that I actually struggled to watch. Maybe that was a reaction following the scene before of Maud sat covered in blood but still! Tomato soup shouldn’t make you feel like that. I’m not sure if it’s the way the film was written all the way or Morfydd Clark (who played Maud) – I found her a little creepy and rather insane.
Let Us Prey
I want to start by saying I found Liam Cunningham’s character of Six pretty terrifying at first, but in the end he actually turns out to be the good guy! There’s a moment where the shadow of his hand creeps into the cell of the man next to him and I’m certain I felt my heart rate go up, fearing the eventual conclusion of that scene. The opening of this film, clips of barbed wire dripping with blood, sets up for an onslaught of violence – and it does not disappoint! There are so many moments that you’ll probably be staring at the screen thinking “what the f***” (I literally said it out loud). I have already decided that this is one for the DVD collection and I don’t say that very often.
The only thing is, I’m a little bit confused by the ending. Are we supposed to think that Rachel, played by Pollyanna MacIntosh, is also a fallen angel? (there’s a speech that Six gives that I get that feeling about him…)
Dog Soldiers
As soon as I was reminded that this film was Scottish, I felt like I couldn’t write this article without it! I have loved this film from the first time I watched it and it’s possibly one of the best werewolf films I’ve seen. The use of colour to show the change in vision, the subtly of some of the deaths along with the timing of humour and the jump scares (especially at the beginning) are what really make this film what it is. Well, as well as the downright violence that ensues during the final showdown between man and werewolf. There’s a moment where you can actually feel the change in the tempo of the film. I won’t say what moment that is because I want you to watch it and feel it organically instead of purposefully watching and waiting for it.
Dark Signal
I’m not going to say this is a bad film because, in all honesty, I get what the whole premise is. I just found it pretty dull until the big reveal at the end. You encounter a film named Dark Signal and from the opening you expect this intense ghost story. However, for me, the use of Sarah’s ‘malevolent’ spirit takes more of a back seat compared to the story of the Wedlock Killer. I’m not going to spoil the ending for you because I am glad that it ended the way it did because I love a twist that you don’t see coming. When it comes down to it, I have mixed feelings about this film – maybe it being reasonably dull at first was to set you up for a clever ending.
