Quarentena

After watching the goddawful Shrooms, I googled 'Irish horror films' to see if anything worthwhile horror-wise had actually come out of the 'Emerald Isle' in recent years; Isolation was a title that repeatedly came up, so I thought I'd give it a go. However, whilst nowhere near as bad as the aforementioned Shrooms (but then again, not much is), Isolation isn't a film I'd recommend, being rather too slow paced (I know, I know... this is to build suspense and develop characters, but it's also boring), riddled with plot holes, and ultimately coming off as a low rent Alien rip-off, albeit one set on a farm.

John Lynch plays Dan, a cattle farmer who regrets allowing a scientist to experiment on one of his cows after it gives birth to a vicious calf, which in turn spawns a rapidly mutating 'inside-out' monster foetus that proceeds to attack anyone unlucky enough to cross its path. Admittedly, this sounds like a lot of fun—kinda like Black Sheep with udders—but it isn't: it's plodding, not particularly scary (there's a couple of effective 'jumps', but not a lot in the way of genuine terror), and way too derivative: this really is nothing more than your standard monster on the loose story, given a rural twist.

Occasionally, there are glimmers of inspiration, such as a few nasty deaths utilising a nasty piece of farmyard equipment used to kill animals, and there is also a touch of reasonable gore, but with a badly conceived monster (that looked like a cross between a crispy wonton and a chitinous prawn to me), this film doesn't go a long way to convince me that Irish horror movies are gonna have much of an impact on the genre.

Still, if I can find a copy, I expect I'll give Dead Meat a chance (I love zombie films), and I might even check out the upcoming Freakdog, from Shrooms director Paddy Breathnach—after all, it's GOTTA be better than his last effort.

Billy O'Brien pulls no punches and avoids no arm-in-bum shots in this tension-filled, dark film. The first portion of the movie, the viewer is left in a fog of confusion, constantly trying decipher exactly what's happening on the farm. The high level of confusion felt by the viewer perfectly parallels that of the protagonist--Dan, played adequately by John Lynch. Though exactly what "went wrong" is never truly established, its effects certainly are and lead to a horrible series of events.

Marcel Iures played John, the conductor of said experiments. His performance pushes the film towards its climax. He provides a dark and knowing force in the film albeit a somewhat typical mad scientist mold that he fits into.

O'Brien's greatest achievement is the reality in which he creates his film. His frequent use of a hand-held camera lends it a voyeuristic, documentary type of feel. He also utilizes a number of point of view shots to keep the viewer as close to the unappetizing going-ons as possible. That along with the low-key acting creates a very realistic portrait of farm life. Still, a threat found on a bovine farm can only be so terrifying. And though the idea is refreshingly original, the writing is still average at best. The characters share too many traits and seem to lack interests or goals outside of mere survival.

In a time when remakes, sequels and sequels to remakes are just about all the horror genre is getting, it's refreshing to a see a film that isn't merely a copy of another. This film isn't completely original, however, as it has shades of classics such as Alien and The Thing, but the base of the plot is compelling and the way that director Billy O'Brien patiently builds up the atmosphere and tension is impressive. The plot obviously takes influence from the agricultural crisis's we've had in Britain over the last few years; namely foot and mouth, in which the desire not to have people coming and going from various farms was strong. The film starts with a cow giving birth. There's obviously a problem from the outset, and it increases when the cow is born. The calf is somehow not right, and the farmers take the decision to kill it. Upon dissecting the dead calf, it turns out that there's a parasite growing inside of it, and we soon learn that this is the result of an experiment carried out with the farmer's say so by an immoral vet...

The film is slow to start, and the first half is really just build up. However, the build up isn't boring and the director generates suspense by never really letting us know what is going on until it is really needed. The second half the film is entirely different to the first as then we focus more on action and gore, and this actually goes well with the beginning of the movie. There aren't many characters in the film, and that means that there aren't a lot of death scenes; but this isn't too important as the central monster looks cool enough, and the death scenes are suitably nasty, even though they're not very gory. The locations the atmosphere is a big stand out, and the director does a good job of ensuring the farm location is integral to the plot and good use of the dirty and eerie locations is used at all times. The film is a long way away from being perfect; the camera-work annoyed me somewhat as Billy O'Brien obviously subscribes to the flashy camera-work school of thought, and sometimes you can't see what's going on. However, this is a well made and well acted little horror film that deserves more plaudits for the fact that it's not a direct rip off. Very well done!

Isolation is a very odd horror/thriller, but it works. The storyline isn't the best (animal experiment gone wrong), but its doable. The thing that makes the movie pretty good is the characters, suspense, and fear of the unknown. The actors are not well known, but they are good, they make it a lot more believable. Also, they act in a realistic manner, which also really helped. Over all its a great suspense film. Yes, the idea as a whole is pretty trite and corny, but the director made it work into something good. Its a good above average horror/thriller that is actually pretty underrated. I rate this 7/10. Rated R for violence/gore, language and a scene of sexuality

Although the significance behind the title is only superficially explored - whether it be from too much 'isolation' from cosmpolitan city life, from interpersonal emotional relationships, from wholesome medical meddling, etc... this tightly told story of science run amok at a backwoods Irish farm becomes frightening due to keen usage of natural elements combined with a focus on natural visual/special effects - no CGI! Although the characters are unremarkable, the unrelenting tension gets its strength from the filmmaker's refusal to ever leave the premises. In addition, the overcast skies and the interiors' infrastructures allow the director many opportunities to increase the audience's fear of when and how the creature will affect the proceedings. Though the audience never witnesses the full poteniality of its metamorphosis (although the budget was almost $9.5 million, they may have run out before unleashing a complete masterpiece) the glimpses of how science's ambitions can run amok are horrifyingly conveyed. Essie Davis is gorgeous, but did not create a 'Jamie Lee Curtis' in "Halloween." Definitely recommended.