glennondaniel

I caught this little gem at FrightFest and absolutely loved it, one of the absolute highlights of the festival.

Working on what was apparently a limited budget, director Lawrence Gough and his team have done a tremendous job delivering a well acted and shot little suspenser that firmly places strong characterisations and performances ahead of cheap shocks. That said, it does deliver its fair share of scares and is almost unbearably tense in places.

I don't want to say anything about the plot as you will enjoy the film more going in with little prior knowledge. Suffice to say, the script cleverly (though without being heavy handed) works in some Romero-style prescient social commentary and compelling political debate. In fact, in the early stages it resembles a UK-set Crazies remake, before the plot takes a late and effective change in direction.

If you like intelligent horror films, I recommend seeking this out, particularly if you can find a cinema screening.

Billy O'Brien's excellent ecologically themed horror is a measured, carefully paced and excellently judged picture featuring bags of sweaty suspense and a few good jolts. The film is further boosted by some strong performances from John Lynch and Sean Harris.

The film is particularly effective in evoking the atmosphere of subsistence rural life - one can virtually smell the slurry pits and manure. Uncomfortable memories of the UK's foot and mouth crisis surface as the farm location is quarantined and cow carcasses are torched.

It is certainly a challenge to make cows scary - but this does a better job than The Dark. Bob Keen's sparingly glimpsed monster effects are reminiscent of those seen in Cronenberg's Existenz, particularly the scene in that film's Chinese restaurant. His team also did an excellent job on the cow and calf effects.

Overall a terrific little terror picture that deserves wide exposure.