Memorable, crazy movie

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Parapsychological thrillers will always interest me. Blending supernatural tension with the complexity of psychology can make for some intriguing themes, many of which may be deemed as thought-provoking. This horror film however, falls short in most areas. Loosely based on the Philip Experiment, a university professor and a group of students experiment on a girl to prove that poltergeists are manifestations of the human psych as opposed to supernatural entities. Sounds interesting right? Correct, and this should've been more intriguing than what was actually executed. My attention was immediately drawn to the experiment. The psychology behind it rather fascinates me, and I appreciate that the screenplay dabbles into the morality and ethics of this test. At the end of the day they are torturing a girl and coagulating all of her negative energy into creating a fictitious character, whether you view that as inhumane of scientifically necessary is left for debate. The script involves you, allowing you to cast your own opinion. Just a shame the characters were incredibly one-dimensional and the thrills were non-existent. The jump scares consisted of extremely loud piercing noises. That was it. I had to pat my sound bar at the end of the film and say "it's alright, you can rest your speakers now...it's done". Harris gives a commanding performance and both Cooke and Claflin support him well. But again, the script doesn't allow any character development to be had. The small use of visual effects were uninspired, but given the extremely low budget I'll let it slide. Then we get to the concluding act and unfortunately it crumbles under its own weight. I would've preferred a more intelligent ending as opposed to a clichéd supernatural twist. It's not that I didn't like it, I just don't necessarily agree with how it was conveyed. It's a shame really, director Pogue had some decent material to work with yet somehow translated what should've been a thrilling horror into an unmemorable bore.

Set in 1974 this film follows an experiment undertaken by Joseph Coupland, an Oxford professor; his assistants Krissi Dalton and Harry Abrams; and Brian McNeil, a recently recruited cameraman who is to document proceedings. It is explained that the subject of the experiment is Jane Harper; a very troubled young woman. She is suicidal, has no memory of her childhood and has been in a succession of foster homes; each of which she left after unexplained 'accidents. Coupland thinks he can cure her by drawing out the negative energy and effectively create a poltergeist… something he believes is a manifestation of negativity rather than anything supernatural. Soon the university removes their backing for the experiment and he, along with Jane and the others relocate to a large house. Here Jane starts talking about 'Evey'; a negative energy which Coupland tries to encourage Jane to transfer into a doll. It isn't long before strange things start to happen; things Coupland is convinced aren't supernatural but it is clear that whatever the cause they are all in danger. Things are further complicated by the fact that Brian is clearly developing feelings for Jane.This 2014 film from Hammer nicely captures the '70s feeling and has a good central premise; the problem is that for a film billed as a horror it just isn't that scary; there are a few decent jump scares and it is a bit creepy but I expected more… The DVD box states that it is 'From the makers of "The Woman in Black"' but at no point did it have the skin-crawling terror of that film despite its higher BBFC rating. The acting was impressive; most notably from Olivia Cooke who was brilliant as Jane, Jared Harris who was suitably ambiguous as Professor Coupland and Sam Claflin as Brian, the most ordinary of the characters. The special effects were decent enough and the camera-work added to the atmosphere even if is felt a bit sub-'Blair Witch' during some scenes. Overall I'd say it is worth watching if it is on TV or the DVD is in the bargain bin but it is a bit disappointing if you are expecting some real scares.

The movie was better than some Indie horror flicks I've seen. But, the director/editor used a gimmick that a lot of horror films use: sudden, LOUD noise to shock the audience. So, it wasn't so much the actual movie that was scary, it was the super quiet scene interrupted by a sudden, startling noise right as something was happening that had me jumping out of my seat. It got to be quite obnoxious. Well-made horror films may use this technique once or twice in their content (or maybe not), but this film used it way too much. Also, the sound level itself is erratic. So if you watch this on DVD, expect to have to constantly have to adjust the sound or risk missing a line or blowing out your ear drums. There is one part where something manifests from the experimental subject's mouth that seemed too sophomoric and "sci-fi" to be based on fact(as is touted in the beginning credits). But the photos of the actual people at the end of the movie had me believing and checking online for the real story.

Another new addition to the revitalized Hammer horror production line up, John Pogue's The Quiet Ones failed to reach the heights of Hammer's far more accomplished and well received reimaging of The Woman in Black from 2012 and completely flopped on release both critically and commercially. With many deriding The Quiet Ones on release and with a lowly feedback score from audiences you would expect this horror venture to be scarily bad, but in a surprising turn the film is a lot more effective than one would suspect even though it's potential was still far from reached.Another horror story inspired by actual events, the greatest strength of The Quiet Ones is in the telling of it's at times believable story, you're never absolutely sure on what exactly is occurring in the sense that there is either a rational explanation behind events or something far more sinister. Going the route of some old school found footage format in major places of the film also works well, unlike most modern day set found footage films where footage seems to be shot at the most inappropriate of times, the home movie filming here ads to the tension of the experiments taking place and never gets in the way of the actors who are led well by the ever good Jared Harris.Harris is another reason The Quiet Ones works to the level it does. Oft given tame supporting turns (Pompeii anyone?) Harris shares leading man duties with Sam Claflin's (who all girls would no doubt know as Finnick Odair from the Hunger Games) cameraman Brian, as dogged professor Coupland who is hell bent on finding a cure for the troubled/possessed young lady Jane Harper. Harris is a nice anchoring presence in a pretty fiery role while Claflin to has good moments as Brian. Director Pogue may fail to fully capitalize on the scares available to him with this story but there are enough jolts and jumps throughout to suggest that you'll think twice about sleeping with the lights off.The Quiet Ones is a small, effective little horror that never achieves any major heights to do anything that hasn't been seen before but there is enough within its intriguing story and enough power in its cast to overcome most major hurdles that occur with many such modern day horrors, that mainly being that they just aren't that scary. With a nice lead turn from Harris and some unpredictable turns, you could do far worse for your newest horror fix.3 untypical baby dolls out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check out - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com