Movie Review: The Boy (2016)

The Boy starts off as seemingly innocent as possible. A young American girl (Greta) is about to start a new job as a nanny in jolly old England. What she doesn’t know is the young boy she is due to care for is actually a life sized doll!

Yep, you heard me. A scary ass life sized pot doll complete with scary eyes, perfect hair and a wardrobe to rival the best of us! The story unfolds that the parents, Mr & Mrs Heelshire, did have a living, breathing son who died over 20 years ago and as a coping mechanism, they got attached to a life sized doll in the young departed boys’ stead.

The Heelshire’s live, as I said in England, in an amazingly sprawling country house. Their daily routines all revolve around caring for the doll child and catering to it’s/his every whim.

Sound strange yet? It should, the Heelshire’s are an old couple now and Mr Heelshire makes his true feelings known to Greta in a quiet setting while emptying the rat traps by admitting that things had gotten out of hand but it would appear to be easier for him to just carry on as is.

Mrs Heelshire on the other hand appears to be 100% convinced that the doll is the embodiment of their son Brahms and sets about explaining his daily routine to Greta. It’s a strict routine which she is adamant is adhered to at all times or Brahms would not like it.

The Heelshire’s set off on their first holiday in decades, much to the apparent delight of Mr Heelshire and so off they go, leaving Greta to care for Brahms. A parting gift from Mrs Heelshire as they leave the house, 2 words.... “I’m Sorry”

With the Heelshire’s gone and Greta seemingly getting paid to stay all alone in a large country house in England doing not very much at all, she quickly chucks the routine to one side, covers the creepy looking doll with a blanket and does what anyone would do in the same situation, drink the rich people’s wine!

The introduction of Malcolm, the local shop keeper who delivers the weekly groceries to the house, sets up a bit of a love interest and a slight distraction from the edgy and chilling child/doll minding. 

As the story progresses we learn a lot about why Greta took up this position, a job so far from home and even more about the tragic story surrounding Brahms’ death, the real one, not the doll variety.

Directed by William Brent Bell who has some pedigree within the walls of this blog having also directed The Devil Within and Stay Alive, The Boy plays out like many psychological thrillers with a few jump scares along the way. Couple that with a very creepy looking pot doll and we have a film that is well worth the 1 hour, 37 minute run time.

At first glance, The Boy suffers from not really knowing it’s true identity, a few twists take the story and the film itself off on a few tangents but when you sit down after the credits have rolled and dissect it for all that it is, The Boy is a very clever film that does not pretend to be anything other than what it is.

And what it is, is an enjoyable, slow burner of a move which is very well written, directed and acted. Props go out to the main cast of two, Lauren Cohen as Greta the nanny and Rupert Evans as Malcolm because for the majority of the film, it is only these two faces we see... Besides the doll!

I would fully recommend this film to anyone looking for an easy to watch horror mystery on a Random Saturday night, you will hopefully not be disappointed.

My Rating 7/10

Movie Review: Triangle (2009)

Triangle first came to my attention after buying something on Amazon. It was under the “Customers also bought” scrolling bar that often proves helpful in searching out the vast library of Random Horror films that are available. It wasn’t until a chance visit to a newly opened DVD/Games outlet that I saw the opportunity. £3.50 on Blu-Ray! Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.

It was this weekend, in the wake of Halloween that I decided to sit down with the misses and watch said film. Triangle is a 2009 thriller that stars Melissa George as Jess. The film starts with Jess at home with her son. Nothing untoward appears to be going on until the doorbell rings. When Jess goes to answer it, she is confronted with nothing. Your mind goes on and story continues...

Jess soon heads off to go sailing with some friends but before too long, a huge storm comes and threatens their lovely excursion. After some bizarre radio transmissions which seem to go unsolved, their boat is battered and capsized by the huge storm.

The group, originally consisting of Jess, Greg, Victor, Heather, Downey & Sally face the massive barrage head-on and somewhere along the way, one of them is lost. As the remaining crew sit in wait on the overturned hull, a huge cruise liner approaches. They board the liner and begin to look for the crew on a seemingly empty ship. More strange occurrences begin to plague the survivors as Jess begins to have vivid thoughts of déjà vu but things soon turn from bad to worse as it becomes apparent that the massive cruise ship is hiding something worse than they imagined!

I think I will leave it there as for anyone who hasn’t seen this film, I would not want to spoil anything for you. All I can say is the twists and turns in this eerily creepy, atmospheric and thought provoking psychological horror film will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire runtime!

Triangle was written and directed by Christopher Smith who has previous pedigree with the dark and sinister Creep and again with the violent horror/comedy Severance. Both of which impressed greatly and he continues that trend here. As for the cast, Melissa George impressed more in this role than any other I have seen her in previously and she is more than ably backed up by Michael Dorman (Greg), Liam Hemsworth (Victor), Henry Nixon (Downey) and Rachel Carpani (Sally).

When it comes to this type of film, there is very little I can actually say besides compliments. A vastly deep and twist filled horror, I wouldn’t want to give anything away, so I will end with;
Triangle made up for some disappointing watches recently and although it didn’t fair too well as a commercial enterprise, I wouldn’t let that put you off if you were thinking of watching it. Highly recommended, original and enjoyable British horror film. It also raises an obscure yet poignant question of suicide but I’ll let you decide for yourselves....

Released: 2009

My Rating: 7.5

Movie Review: The Killing Room (2009)

What happens when you can’t be bothered to walk upstairs and get another DVD from the office? You end up flicking through the movie channels. Fortunately for me, The Horror Channel is free with the full Sky package. If you like lesser known horror films then you can often find something enjoyable on there.

Well anyway, by chance I tuned in just as The Killing Room was starting. A quick check on IMDB revealed the cast list and I was sold. Peter Stormare, Clea DuVall and Nick Cannon were enough to convince me to watch.

The Killing Room follows a group of people who are participating in what they think is a Psychological study, it soon becomes apparent that they are involved in something far more sinister. Peter Stormare plays, as he invariably does, a shady foreigner (Not xenophobic, just an observation) Nick Cannon plays a quiet participant as does Clea DuVall. The remaining test subjects are played by Academy Award winner, Timothy Hutton and Shea Whigham. The whole thing is rounded off with the new recruit to Stormare's secretive agency, Chloë Sevigny who is being rigorously put through her paces in a job interview to top them all!

The Killing Room's plot focuses on a secret CIA research facility which looks to be continuing the work from the 1950's and 60's known as Project MKULTRA. This projects' goal in reality were ultimately unclear but the film can take any approach it wants. On the one hand you have a valid study to try and use mind control (as valid as that can be?) but on the other, you have various techniques involving torture. However you look at it, it’s no wonder why there was so much fuss surrounding the original studies in the 50’ & 60’s. I will say if you like conspiracy theories, have a little read. It's quite interesting.

The film's dialogue leaves a lot to be desired but the very able cast more than makes up for that short coming. Some very convincing performances, most notably from Hutton who plays the "been there done that" character and despite the lack of personal involvement, his character, Crawford may be the one the audience connects with the most. Cannon plays Paul Brodie, a seemingly quiet kid who is looking for a bit of fast cash. His character grows throughout the film and ultimately becomes one of the main protagonists. All in all I think the whole cast gives a good performance and one which you can feel sympathy for. Let’s face it, if you don’t feel empathy for the characters then someone isn’t trying hard enough! The customary OTT performance from the brilliant Stormare finishes everything off nicely.

Despite not really being a horror film, The Killing room does have its shock moments and it is one that I would have bought if I had seen in the shops. Having done the rounds at Sundance and then (I believe) released straight to DVD it didn’t receive the kind of publicity that maybe the cast should have demanded. This was very unfortunate as I really enjoyed it and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys atmospheric thrillers.

Released: 2009

My Rating: 6.5