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Struggling wannabe stand-up comedian Marcus Crowe (a solid performance by Michael Lieber) and his long-suffering girlfriend Jill Scott (a sound and appealing portrayal by Loren Peta) rent a room in a London house owned by an elderly couple. Of course, there's more to said elderly couple than initially meets the eye.
Director/co-writer Devanand Shanmugam relates the absorbingly twisted story at a deliberate pace, ably crafts a super creepy and unsettling atmosphere, takes time to develop the characters, grounds the premise in a believable everyday reality, and maintains a dark grim tone throughout. Moreover, the plots gets more increasingly icky and upsetting as it unfolds towards a devastatingly savage climax. Christopher Craig and Antonia Davies are both excellent as the old couple, with Craig a particular stand-out as a loony old duffer who turns out to be an extremely nasty piece of crazy scary work. Unpleasant for sure, but undeniably effective and disturbing just the same.
score 8/10
Woodyanders 7 January 2021
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6451624/ |
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