An eager-to-please son obeys the call of his estranged, reclusive father to come visit, but at their meeting the father is up for a fight ...
Interesting scenario that winds up the tension nice and tight in the first act. Then an unexpected full stop that got me looking forward to the possibilities, as the hero is left alone with his deep seated issues in a house that goes bump in the night.
And whaddya know - there's a totally offbeat plot development that introduces the mighty Michael Smiley in a sort of Frank Booth role. But it doesn't work. I think the problem is the knowing, facetious dialogue, foreshadowed in a ridiculous line about burping on demand, which drains all the menace - as if the screenwriter was embarrassed by his story. And for whatever reason, Smiley really is not convincing as a force of malevolence - probably because the bloody violence doesn't grow out of the ground prepared earlier in the movie. It's a random sequence, derivative of Martin McDonagh, which comes off as half-hearted juvenile fantasy by introducing throwaway characters after already throwing away the coroner and policeman from earlier on. A couple of scenes at the motel are ripped straight from Tarantino, but have nowhere near the same ear for dialogue. To be honest, I got a bit distracted during the underwhelming climax.
And where did the hunchback disappear to? What about the alcohol dependency? Why is the hero a musician? Why the reference to another slit-wrist suicide? Or to the Celestine Prophecies? Maybe the screenplay needed a few more trips through the shredder to grow its integrity.
The pace is pretty good, the performances excellent in the first act, and I liked the choice of odd music tracks. The score itself felt a bit dumpty-dumpty-dum in its humour. Apart from that, awesome location and photography.
Overall: Pregnant setup spills its load by imitating others.
Interesting scenario that winds up the tension nice and tight in the first act. Then an unexpected full stop that got me looking forward to the possibilities, as the hero is left alone with his deep seated issues in a house that goes bump in the night.
And whaddya know - there's a totally offbeat plot development that introduces the mighty Michael Smiley in a sort of Frank Booth role. But it doesn't work. I think the problem is the knowing, facetious dialogue, foreshadowed in a ridiculous line about burping on demand, which drains all the menace - as if the screenwriter was embarrassed by his story. And for whatever reason, Smiley really is not convincing as a force of malevolence - probably because the bloody violence doesn't grow out of the ground prepared earlier in the movie. It's a random sequence, derivative of Martin McDonagh, which comes off as half-hearted juvenile fantasy by introducing throwaway characters after already throwing away the coroner and policeman from earlier on. A couple of scenes at the motel are ripped straight from Tarantino, but have nowhere near the same ear for dialogue. To be honest, I got a bit distracted during the underwhelming climax.
And where did the hunchback disappear to? What about the alcohol dependency? Why is the hero a musician? Why the reference to another slit-wrist suicide? Or to the Celestine Prophecies? Maybe the screenplay needed a few more trips through the shredder to grow its integrity.
The pace is pretty good, the performances excellent in the first act, and I liked the choice of odd music tracks. The score itself felt a bit dumpty-dumpty-dum in its humour. Apart from that, awesome location and photography.
Overall: Pregnant setup spills its load by imitating others.