A routine pagan creature feature that is watchable for the bleak, dreary landscape and the presence of Keri Russell in the lead role. She plays Julia, a small town school teacher who lives with her local sheriff brother (Jesse Plemons). There's a sordid history of parental abuse behind them so Julia is only too aware of issues with one of her school kids, the withdrawn and clearly malnourished, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas). He is harbouring a dark secret at home which the inquisitive Julia soon sets out to discover unleashing an ancient horror in the process. There's nothing outwardly wrong with this film, it's competently made, looks good and has the usual atmospheric build ups. It just doesn't really add much to a quite tired sub genre and whilst it maybe thematically about modern generational abuse or societal disavowment of the under privileged, I suspect it's just another film following the current horror trends. There's gore, a monster and daftness in equal measure and Amy Madigan has a cameo. Watchable for Halloween perhaps but otherwise a throwaway.
FILM & REVIEW Brooding and not a little disturbing chiller set in the rotting post industrial outback of Oregon. Russell plays Julia a school teacher who has moved back to be with her Sheriff brother Plemins and it’s revealed they both share a dark past. She gets increasingly concerned about Lucas (Thomas) one of her pupils whose younger brother isn’t in school and whose Father is known to the cops as a Meths Cook. She suspects something is very wrong at home…….and that is all I am saying as it works best not knowing which route it will take. Copper builds the atmosphere quite slowly with an increasing sense of dread and the way he ratchets up the tension is very effective. It’s produced by Guillermo Del Toro and fits very will into his oeuvre and can be really quite disturbing at times……very good indeed ??4/5