Now here’s an odd one – a horror movie that focuses more on a woman’s damned relationship with a serial killer than on the atrocities he committed.
Sarah (Amy Seimetz) was once in love with a man who turned out to be a notorious killer called Garrick Turrell (AJ Bowen), and it was her testimony that led to his eventual capture and imprisonment. Now attending AA meetings, Sarah is trying to get her life back on track. She even attempts to start up another relationship with a fellow alcoholic, the seemingly ineffectual and impotent Kevin (Joe Swanberg).
The first 30-minutes of Adam Wingard’s Missouri-set indie thriller focuses on Sarah and her sad state of being, while Kenny Powers look-a-like Garrick is seen escaping prison and having flashbacks to when he and Sarah were a couple.
While going hard on the theme of sobriety, ‘Nothing good comes from drinking. Better to be on the sober path than the devil’s path’, its all doom and gloom and heavy on the mood, with very little action until Garrick finally hits the miserable Missouri town where Sarah now lives and starts killing… more sad people.
Now instead of going to the police (or calling witness protection), Sarah accepts Kevin’s idea of hiding out in a remote cabin. Now that’s just plain stupid, isn’t it? Well, it’s actually a unsubtle plot device so that Wingard can arrive at his sick, but surprising, twist in the tale.
Ending with more questions than answers, I felt a bit left out in the cold – just like our heroine in the final scene – but thankfully Jasper Justice Leigh’s sublime score made up for the film’s shortfalls, while Amy Seimetz’s raw, physical performance as Sarah really carries the film. You'll certainly fall off the wagon after watching this one.
Out now on DVD and Blu-ray through Anchor Bay Entertainment http://youtube.com/v/A829VRylP1s
