A new Aussie horror film, about dark forces, and family secrets.
When Claire Nash is suspended from the police force, we sense early there is an untold story about the death of Luke: a troubled young man she was trying to save. While her career is in limbo, she is summoned home to Blackwood by Uncle Cliff, to deal with the consequences of her own father's passing. From the outset Claire knows something is not right, not right with her and not right with her community.
Hollow eyed women walk the streets, the men have disappeared and there is an ominous sense of doom as Claire struggles to find the truth at the heart of it all. Unravelling her family story and the legacy of witchcraft that has overwhelmed the town brings Claire to a terrifying realization about the dark forces she feels within.
Creepy from the start!
Beautifully filmed for a small budget film, images of dark forest and wild ocean reinforce an uncomfortable world where nothing is what it seems. Sweeping shots of the forest establish the town's isolation from the rest of the world while the flashbacks to the coastal town, home to her boyfriend and the tragedy of Luke, show us that even her community doesn't quite trust Claire.
Clever in its development of tension, the film doesn't hold back on the blood and gore when it's required.
Although occasionally suffering from patchy characterization, experienced actors Cassandra Magrath, John Voce and up and comer Nicholas Denton (fantastic as Luke), maintain the menace and surprises loved by fans of this genre.
