SPOOKTOBER chapter 8:
A Halloween-set Horror
A House invasion horror taking place on October 31st gave "Berkshire County" a.k.a. "Tormented" plenty of appeal despite the lackluster ratings, but little did I know, it turned out to be a rather frustrating watch with little to none of the craved-for seasonal vibes.
It all starts out reasonably well, but with a muddy, mean spirit. Our main character is Kylie Winters, a terribly bullied introvert teen, who gets cornered into giving a blowjob, is secretly filmed, and neither the school, parents, friends, the guy or his girlfriend is happy about that.. Impressively enough, throughout the runtime, the writer fails to establish enough sympathy for a character that essentially continuously suffers. Script frustrates frequently, characters, of whom some or unlikable, at times do not make rational decisions, among other things that interfere with the much needed realism.
Amidst the turmoil Kylie goes to a remote "mansion" to babysit two 8 year olds, and this is where three scary piglets come in, and try to break in. Motivation? Still not certain, so that's not so good. Sure, there's a "reveal" sort of move at the end, but it's just void. Although bringing nothing new to the table, the house invasion portion of "Tormented" is the one that works best, and keeps one engaged. A bit of suspense, a bit of gore, and at the very least an average cat-and-mouse thriller.
Eventually Audrey Cummings's directional debut runs its due course without many surprises on the way. Overall, the vibe of "Berkshire County" feels muddy, and not in a good way. The script should've been well revised before being greenlit. Set on Halloween, but has a few mentions of the word and couple pumpkins, so only recommended to die-hard fans of house invasion thrillers. My rating: 4/10.
