Prevenge

Alice Lowe has a twisted dark sense of humour. And after this, I'm a little bit afraid of her too. And yet, because of this, I find myself strangely drawn to her. What that says about me, I don't know. But I kinda wanna watch everything she's done now.

As an indie film, it's pretty good. But when you know the facts, that it was written by Lowe in three and a half days, directed by her and filmed in just 11 days, and starring in it whilst 8 months pregnant, is a remarkable effort; and I would imagine, quite inspiring for any would-be filmmaker.

Of course, it didn't hurt to include some additional genuine talent in its cast, such as Jo Hartley of This is England fame, Gemma Whelan of Game of Thrones fame, Kayvan Novak (the Fonejacker guy) and the best murder victim character Tom Davis as DJ Dan.

It's all very very British. Which is also why this works as well as it does.

I can't wait to see what Alice Lowe comes up with next when she decides to do her own thing again.

The three Greek Furies that feature prominently in the 1934 Noirish movie, Crime Without Passion, are the central metaphor in Alice Lowe's extraordinarily dark Prevenge, billed as the world's first pregnant, slasher, comedy, horror movie.

In it, Alice Lowe's character, Ruth, embarks on a revenge murder spree goaded on by her helium-voiced, gestating baby.

It takes her to Wales and, in one breathtaking scene, the streets of Cardiff on Halloween night where she claims she almost needed protection from the boozed-up locals in a sequence reminiscent of Scarlett Johnassonn's Under The Skin street walk in Glasgow.

The reason for her bloody revenge spree is only revealed in drips (so I won't spoil it - like a preview I read before the screening did for me) which adds greatly to the narrative tension.

The making of this low budget Film Four offering is remarkable. Lowe was offered development money and finding herself pregnant used her condition to inspire this blackest of black script. She then wrote, produced, cast and filmed (in 11 days) the whole affair before her baby arrived.

Seeing an actor perform whilst heavily pregnant, and genuinely playing a pregnant character, is a rarity (my only recollection is Frances McDormand in Fargo) and Lowe certainly makes the most of the opportunity. Shooting took place in her late third Trimester.

The Furies are the ultimate avenging angels and she uses the extraordinary scenes from Crime Without Passion to symbolise her quest for justice, viewing the movie from the comfort of her hotel room where she takes respite, despite noisily bonking near neighbours, from her exhausting killings.

The killings themselves are simple but bloody affairs and each has hilarious set ups. Can she complete her task before the long arm of the law catches up on her careful forensic clean ups? You'll have to see it to find out.

This is classic British black comedy at its best. Using its low budget as a virtue but still making some moments of genuinely great cinematography, most notably in an exotic pet shop and a beautiful full facial dream sequence in a yoga class.

It has echoes of Mike Leigh's early work and Ben Wheatley's Sightseers is an obvious reference point. Obvious because Lowe is its co-star and it too shares a murderous plot line.

But, comparisons aside, this is an entirely original take on several genres that does its damnedest to create a genre of its own.

Whether there's room for thousands of pregnant, slasher, comedy, horror movies is debatable.

So we'll just have to agree on one thing. The original and best.

Ruth is a pregnant woman on a killing spree dictated by her unborn child, seemingly holding society responsible for the absence of a father.

It surely earns points on originality, this is a really unusual and transgressive movie. Unfortunately loses points because of an unlikeable protagonist and continuosly creepy images and situations, all this leaving a really bad taste in your mouth while watching it making you feel uncomfortable and not in a "good" way (this anyway may ultimately be the end goal of the filmaker and may appeal to a specific audience). You may be tempted/intrigued to see it or even like it if you like deep transgression and you are bored by traditional movies.

There's some fun to be had here with this dark comedy. A pregnant woman goes on a murdering spree on the people involved in her unborn child's father's climbing death. A movie like this could have been completely unwatchable so I appreciate that they got the tone just right. The child speaks to her from the womb but it never gets completely goofy. The violence she commits is brutal and bloody and it doesn't attempt to trivialize or justify their deaths.

Despite that, there is entertainment to be had as the more she kills the more unhinged she becomes. At times it's an almost playful performance from Alice Lowe who also wrote and directed it. Overall a respectable movie. Nicely shot considering it was done in under 2 weeks.

We all know that pregnant women are supposed to get strange cravings. Most of the time these are usually nothing more than for the odd toastie in the middle of the night with perhaps a disgusting filling or two. Ruth's cravings, on the other hand, are a good deal darker. Egged on by the voice of her unborn baby girl Ruth gets a craving to kill people and it would seem with justification since all of her victims were, in some way, responsible for the death of her baby's father.

"Prevenge", in case you hadn't guessed it, is a comedy and a very black one. It was written and directed by the multi-talented Alice Lowe who, up until now, was better known as the female half of the team that brought you "Sightseers". She also plays Ruth, and plays her superbly, and her victims are made up of a host of outstanding British character players, including the monstrously underused Kate Dickie. Naturally, this isn't a film that will appeal to everyone, (I think pregnant mothers should stay well clear), but if you have the same very sick sense of humour that I do then seek it out; you certainly won't regret it.