erica smart

A cliche-filled horror movie that falls (unintentionally) into the genre of comedy. Despite having a largely British cast, this film seems like it was written by somebody who has never been to England or even met an English person before. It is an American stereotype of England (complete with a cobbled-street London) and the English. The ‘rickety old house’ looks garishly new from the outside, and like a fairground ghost train ride from the inside., complete with ancient lighting, servants bells and plenty of candles (strange for a family supposedly scared of fire). The villager, who Evie runs to later in the film, even has a rotary phone. Clearly the writer thinks us Brits are stuck circa-1940. The family were all bumbling stereotypical arrogant toffs, and the two villagers, despite apparently having lived all their lives in Whitby (Yorkshire) strangely had Cornish accents. The actors all played their parts with aplomb, but sadly the poor script couldn’t save this movie from the ridiculous. The jump-scares (complete with ‘scary’ music )have been done a million times before and the way the film turns from vaguely normal-realistic to ninja vampire-slayer is jarring. This movie is also implanted with several aspects of American culture that would never be found in England which further added to my disbelief of the plot. Special mention goes to the bachelorette party (we have hen parties here in the UK) and the wedding rehearsal dinner (not something we do). Altogether, a film to miss.