Blackwood

Saw this at a festival last year and wasn't sure it was going to get distribution, but, against what appeared to be the general feeling it looks like it has a distributor for August, so have decided to post my notes.

The premise is the usual one for scary, strange-bump-in-the-night movies, emotionally challenged husband moves innocent family out of the big city and in to harms way. This is fine, after all, we all need to get our characters out of their comfort zones and into some kind of jeopardy, otherwise, 'Lassie' for example, would never have been made.

I totally love these type of films, but what follows is unfortunately something of a mash up of all the things you've seen before that have to appear in a make-'em-jump movie. Now, of course, we could try to to convince ourselves (a la Ben Affleck's speech to Col Dolittle in 'Pearl Harbour), that copying others is not bad, its an 'homage'. But then that would force you to accept the US remake of 'The Vanishing' was an 'homage' to George Sluizer's truly taut original. So we see 'Blackwood' is a fairly lame regurgitation of all the familiar tropes, there is a twist at the end, but if you don't spot it a mile you should pop out and show yourself a good time more often, either that or you've dozed off at some point. So all in all, not so unlike Lassie, a little bit more than just a dog.

Great, great cinematography! Also suspense, thrills, actors, music - you name it, this film has it all; even that "This looks like a special film" look, which is a rare thing today. Too bad the "twist" is shockingly weak and the whole idea is BAD. It's something done dozens of times. The film markets itself as "The classic English ghost story gets a revision" - no, it doesn't. You're promised something special but you get something done to death and weak, very weak. And to add insult to injury, the bad guy in this British atmospheric, beautifully filmed movie dies like countless bad guys in cheap American B movies. No, I'm sorry, great landscapes don't make a film smart or good. Oh, and even the stunning Sophia Myles looks old and vapid!

Well, I am a huge fan of the 'things that go bump, spill your popcorn' kinda movie, so was interested from the start to see what these guys were pumping so hard in their reviews. I'm all for that to get your low budget flick a bit of a boost, but no-one likes to feel conned. The story is the usual predictable rip off of 'The Shining', house in country, tick, husband in crisis moves family away against their best wishes, tick, husband starts to lose the plot (not the only one), tick, we all see dead people, tick, lots of dark rooms, wide angles and flickering, etc, etc . . . Which is all cool, except the character development is almost non-existent, his poor wife is left as a totally 2 dimensional character, and the husband struggles to convince with such poor dialogue to work with. In conclusion, without giving anything away (you'll see it all coming a ways off), it's nothing that hasn't been done a hundred times before, and with far more flair. Rather than copying everything that's gone before, try making something original. Poor.

Blackwood is a supernatural horror/haunted house film in the vein of The Others, What Lies beneath and the Orphanage. If you like hard horror this may not be for you but if you're big on mood, atmosphere and things that go bump in the night you won't be disappointed. Set in the Wales/Bristol/Cotsworld region the film capitalises on what The UK has in spades; brooding sky's, panoramic moorlands, eerie woods and old houses that you know are harbouring dark secrets behind their closed doors. I've watched a bunch of good paranormal movies from the states recently, especially the Blumhouse movies but although they do have some good scares they never have the right sorts of locations to give you a chill as they can't escape things being too contemporary and suburban. This film is more of a classic grown up ghost story that understands the rules that fear begins in the mind. If you're looking for a film that's a bit different to the other summer fare give it a look in. Great twist too.

Wonderful production, beautiful locations. The whole film was executed to such a high standard. Great cast too, especially Sophia Myles. I liked the level of suspense, and the tension wasn't too overwhelming or distracting from the plot. Just the right level to be a traditional ghost story without being too shocking. There's twists to the plot, just what you would expect, but all placed very well in the storyline to not be cliché.

A testament to a low budget British film, however I feel there is further to go and possibly a break away from this genre. Overall I really enjoyed the film and hope to see more from Wimpenny and co.