OK, high hopes for this one. Stars Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Walking Dead) and Josh Holloway (‘Sawyer’ in Lost). Seemed to be getting good reviews. Something like The Omen maybe? Read on..
A gang of kidnappers take an eight-year-old called David (Blake Woodruff) and hold him for ransom at an isolated cabin in the snowy woods of Maine. Big mistake! David is no ordinary eight-year-old.
Now this film had me at ‘Ring of Fire’ by Johnny Cash which is played during the gang’s trip to the cabin but apart from that (!) this really is a very good film. It’s beautifully shot, the snowy scenes, night and day, are magnificent, and the acting is top-notch including little Blake Woodruff who does an adequate job.
The pacing is perfect which means no dragging or unnecessary filler but the kidnappers aren’t very threatening despite abducting a child which gives it that glossy thriller feel in places. This doesn’t mar the film too much, the tension is solid and keeps us watching, but would kidnappers really be people we could sympathise with? Anyway, maybe I’m being picky, or maybe it’s just the structure of the film, a trait of modern cinema (?) but not a flaw so much.
I didn’t find the film scary but I did find it very entertaining and would watch it again sometime. Is it up there with The Omen? Of course not. The Omen ’76 is sublime. But I would recommend it as an enjoyable watch to horror fans, you could do a lot worse. It’s a well-made, nicely-acted little horror thriller but it doesn’t go that extra mile and make you keep the lights on.
