Kantemir

A troop of actors gather together in an isolated Gothic mansion in autumnal Pennsylvania to rehearse a play. The play is as Gothic as the setting and centres around the romantic and murderous intrigues surrounding a medieval Transylvanian merchant's family. Cue the actors being unable to differentiate the play from reality, a cursed book, assorted gypsies, witches, vampires, slow motion running in forests, killer hounds and other assorted hokum. It isn't bad. It's just run of the mill - which is worse. A shame really as, given the unusual premise, in more creative hands it could have been much better. On the plus side it does have Justine Griffiths who would look good even reading a telephone directory, which in this case might be more engaging.

A fascinating existential examination of the nature of reality and the struggle to grasp its meaning. Director Ben Samuels is clearly a quite gifted film maker and while this is on the surface a horror movie, that is only the structure within which a deeper story is expressed. Mark Garbett and Ralph Glen Howard have fashioned a compelling and engrossing story that is intensely disturbing, fantastical, and terrifying. Samuels truly excels at creating an atmosphere of dark unease and hovering horror. The suspense and mystery is unrelenting as a journey through a hellish landscape that questions life itself is taken by the characters and in effect, the audience. Robert Englund gives a superb performance and once again proves once again what a fine actor he can be. Astonishing set design and cinematography heighten the surrealistic tone of the film and help make this motion picture a frightening, unnerving, and powerful intellectual experience.

The story is a good idea but the casting and play was horrible except Robert Englund

Robert Englund, whose Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street is rightly one of horror's most iconic characters, was my main reason for seeing Kantemir. He has been in quite a number of stinkers or not-so-good movies in recent years, but always gives his all no matter what.

Kantemir does have a few good things in its favour. It does look good (which to be honest was not expected, considering the reputation with low-budget movies looking cheap or even amateurish) with a real Gothic charm, some real atmosphere in the lighting, clever use of colours and photography that seldom looks cheap. It also has a good music score that sets the mood very nicely.

Unfortunately, that is where the redeeming qualities for Kantemir end. One does have to credit Englund for playing a role different to usual, for him this is restrained stuff, and shows that he does have more to him than having a wormy character, and although he does give the movie's best performance his underwritten role and very cliché dialogue is quite frankly beneath him and although he does try, he is somewhat too reserved and doesn't do anything to distinguish what he's been given (which is in all honesty worthless for any actor with any talent). The very less known names are no better, Justine Griffiths looks pretty but phones it in and there is a lot of forced overacting, Daniel Gadi's overplayed smugness is particularly annoying. The characters have no development and just as little personality, they are just there.

The script is incredibly hackneyed and never sounds natural and with an increasing lack of rhythm. Even more of a problem is the story, which has to be the movie's biggest problem, there is very little to it, often it is uneventful, and much of it is very tedious with no suspense whatsoever and just as little mystery. A decent idea, quite a unique premise considering the budget, but with nothing of note done with it.

Overall, looks good but very dull stuff and does nothing with Englund's talents, which is unforgivable really. 3/10 Bethany Cox

I'm always up for a good gothic horror story and this film about a group of actors meeting in a secluded mansion sounded very promising.

Unfortunately the film didn't manage to leave much of a mark. It's not bad necessarily but one I will probably forget soon.