In the Dark Half

This is a really impressive piece of filmmaking until the end, when it just sort of splinters into a lot of random bits (including what look like stray cuttings from PRINCESS KA'UILANI?) It's too bad, because otherwise this might have been an eerie masterpiece standing alongside, instead of shadowing, SIXTH SENSE.

Jessica Barden is AMAZING as Marie; a weird 15-year-old living in a depressed suburban tract that backs onto "the hill," a large tract of undeveloped land that includes an abandoned bunker where she conducts burials for kills she steals from her poacher neighbor Filthy (Tony Curran.) Filthy entertains both Marie and his young son Sean with myths and folktales, but when Sean dies while Marie is babysitting, Filthy loses control while Marie becomes convinced that she is in communication with the dead. Increasingly estranged from her only friend Michelle (Georgia Henshaw) and erratic mother (Lyndsey Marshal,) Marie becomes convinced that Sean wants her to draw his father into the bunker.

Directed by Alastair Siddons, In The Dark Half is wonderfully weird, with terrific performances by everyone, atmospheric music, and effective cinematography. The script is a little all over the place from the beginning but this works at first, keeping the audience guessing as to the film's intentions; I thought this really worked for a while as it allowed the supernatural elements to creep in. Unfortunately it all began to fall apart once they are plainly in place, simultaneously telegraphing "the twist" without really setting up the rest of the finale to make sense. That doesn't necessarily make it a terrible film; it just left me feeling kind of disappointed.

It is a really tough movie to describe. I'm not going to use spoilers, though even if I did it'd be very difficult to catch the essence of it. It is a very spiritual movie. Of course it might feel fake for some, quite a few may see where this is heading (at least a general direction), but it's still a ride worth taking.

If you like low budget cinema/drama (with a touch of horror) that is. The acting is really good (the kid is supposed to be annoying and especially unnerving) and the story has this vibe to it that strangely attracted me to it. It's not perfect by all means, but I do think the fact that it tries to be different and especially "feel" different, sets it apart from some other movies (in a good way).

There's a common belief that any film given below seven stars on IMDb is not worth seeing. That may have been true at one time when purposefully poor reviews or deceptive great reviews weren't posted simply because the idiots hadn't discovered they could manipulate the numbers. All that said, this film--this majestic example of directory genius and superb storytelling--I gave five Amazon stars to because it deserved every last one of them, and I give 10 stars here on IMDb, something I reserve for flawless films. I stepped into this story not sure I really wanted to know about it. Poor housing developments in some part of a Wales that I like to imagine is only made up of hills and dales and out-of-the-way pubs owned and operated by cute, snappy-eyed, broad smiling Welsh beauties. And wait'll ye see their daughters! Anyway, the Wales of this film is nothing like I imagine, but is desolate and cold and weird and unimpressive. But I watched anyway, and was soon enough caught up in the seamless storytelling and brilliant photography with perfect, telling angles (you'll need to see the film twice to see what I mean--the shots hang a certain way, and that is a first and major clue to what you will see as really the center of the whole tale). I'd tell you much more, but I don't want to spoil anything. If you are a fan of masterful storytelling in film as well as a lover of all things Celtic and Welsh and British and what have you, then see this one. You won't regret it.

Sullen teenager Marie (Jessica Barden) suffering from teenage angst is more troubled when the neighbour's young son she is babysitting suddenly dies. Her mother is unhinged, the neighbour goes shooting rabbits at night, the townsfolk hold him responsible somehow for his son's death.

Marie is friendless and is drawn to the woods where she feels the dead boy's presence.

This a low budget film shot in and around Bristol, the supernatural element is hinted but it does not have a pay off. It is atmospheric but ends rather disappointingly.

Not all is as it seems in this low budget chiller. Fifteen year old Marie lives with her mother and occasionally babysits for her neighbour 'Filthy'. He is a poacher who tells Marie and his son, Sean, tales of fairies who live in a nearby hill. One night as she is babysitting Sean dies. Filthy wants somebody to blame and Marie blames herself but doctors assure them that nobody is to blame. As they try to deal with their grief Marie starts to believe that Sean is still there, living on the hill.

This film won't be for everybody but I rather enjoyed it. It is hard to pin down to a genre; it hints at the supernatural but it could be that this is just what characters believe. The pace isn't fast but that adds to the atmosphere. There is a good sense of mystery concerning what is really going on and some genuine twists. The cast is impressive; most obviously Jessica Barden, who is great as Marie; Tony Curren, who impresses as the grief-stricken Filthy and Lyndsey Marshal as Marie's mother Kathy. The locations used are effective; especially the old pillbox where Marie believes Sean is now. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to film fans looking for something a little different.