Oddity

Ted and Dani Timmins have recently purchased a new house. One night, whilst Ted is at work, Dani receives a visitor at the front door, Olin Boole, who claims someone's in her house, that night Dani is killed. Darcy, Dani's twin aims to learn the truth.

If ever a film was given the perfect title, it's this one, it verges on art house, it's very much an avant garde, slightly quirky horror, but trust me it works.

I wasn't sure which way it was going to go, but it opens up well, and offers a few surprises along the way, delivering some unsettling moments, that scene with the wooden man is especially good.

If I had one little criticism, I think they underdid the lighting a little, a few scenes are somewhat challenging to make out.

It does feel a little rough around the edges at times, but I think that is part of the charm, maybe some of the acting isn't great at all times, but again that fits the film.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend.

7/10.

It was a pleasant surprise, a well-made film, well-told, with good scripts and good tension... The acting is appropriate and the viewer is involved from beginning to end. The locations are very well built, create the right suspense, help to create an atmosphere of mystery, suspicion, alertness, emotional tension. The story always oscillates between the plane of imagination and the plane of reality, without ever knowing, until the end, where the truth is: the fantasy/horror aspects mixes well with the thriller/mystery part. The soundtrack and sound effects are also convincing. Very Recommended.

This film does a lot of things right. While there's a jump scare or two, the fear mostly consists of atmosphere and situations that would easily scare anyone in a similar setting. That's the right way to do horror, with the idea of something inspiring dread as opposed to cheap reaction scares that are only effective due to loud noises. It even starts out with an impossible decision that effortlessly hooks you in. Additionally, there's always something to focus on that consistently engages the audience. Shown, not immediately explained. Seen and not described. This results in mystery and guesswork that will keep you interested throughout. All in all an entertaining film, and the acting skill displayed by the entire cast is competent and fitting.

I only have two complaints. The first is that the motivation of some characters are basically nonsensical. It could be argued these people are essentially psychopaths, but even so their choices are far too extreme to be believed. Absolutely ridiculous. The second is the ending scene. I can't elaborate without spoilers, but while the concept is very cool, the execution was pretty weak. None of this ruined my overall enjoyment of the film, but there is no lasting impression because of it, which is a shame.

This is a nicely crafted blend of story, dialogue and cinematography. Not so much for the ghostly effects but it's ok. I'd rather have a cleverly written story with so-so special effects than a triple A cgi title with no substance these days.

This feels more of a mish-mash of drama and murder mystery than horror. Some of the props do look creepy and unnerving and they work well to push through the story. Don't expect a lot of jumpscares, there's not a lot which is a good thing. It's all about the atmosphere.

All in all I can't find much faults except for the cheap-ish sfx and costumes, but that's only for a few seconds of the movie anyway. What matters here is the mystery to solve. Great popcorn movie.

Even though I'm not usually a fan of horror movies, I went to a movie festival and watched Oddity. I was impressed by the quality of the scenes, the location and the chosen frames were good (and effective, because it was scary). I also liked how the actors played their role. The connection between the sisters was well presented and the husband played quite well the role of a very rational man.

The story, however, was a little bit predictable. By the end of the first half of the movie I already assumed who the murderer was and what was going to happen next.

It is a pretty good movie to watch. :)