Two brothers, David and Peter, abduct a young blonde woman, Tracey and take her to a secluded and remote cottage. In exchange for her safe return they ask for only 100 pounds from her father. Her brother, Andrew, who is in on the kidnapping, secures the ransom and comes to the village only to find he’s been duped. They find, however, there is a great horror waiting for them in the nearby remote countryside in the form of a deformed and murderous farmer.
The bumbling and fumbling of these three makes for a great comedy. As I watched the opening 55 minutes of this film I wondered where the horror was. And then it came. The Farmer character is brutal. He’s deformed. He’s ugly. And he’s a killer. This film featured some fantastic gore and kills. In one scene, the Farmer is shown ripping the head and spine from one of his victims. In another a victim is eviscerated. None of this is ground breaking stuff, but its certainly better than watching a remake or reimagining of a classic slasher film.
The acting is believable and well executed. Andy Serkis (David) and Reece Shearsmith (Peter) do a fantastic job playing brothers and like most brothers they outwardly hate each other while caring very much for each other. Tracey, played by Jennifer Ellison, is mean and demanding, even as a hostage.
The director and writer Paul Andrew Williams successfully achieved the balance needed in a “horromedy”. However, instead of lacing the horror with comic relief the film plays like any “Dumb and Dumber” genre comedy film, and much of that is predictable. But, true horror fans, simply need to ride this one out. The horror is worth the wait. This isn’t ground breaking horror, but it certainly worth a rent.
This film can be rented from Netflix or purchased from Amazon.
Steel Mill Pictures (2008) – UK
