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The Cottage [2008]
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Hilarious
Review date: 2008-11-30 Rating: 8 out of 10
Good laughs and good gore. Had me in stitches. Would highly recommend for lovers of black comedy.
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Reviews
Lacks the tension and scares to counter balance the lame humour
Review date: 2008-11-26 Rating: 4 out of 10
In the past several years the British film industry has attempt to expand on Its choice of film genre. As per usual British directors have doled out the usual Comedies/Romantic comedies, gritty dramas etc. without delving in to other specific genres ie. Horror/Sci-fi. And thankfully the industry has begun to delve in to these categories more often. The result as you might expect has been rather mixed. For every 'Shaun of the Dead' or 'Severance' that has been released we've also had to endure dull or flat dross like 'The Descent' or 'Dog Soldiers'. Where 'The Cottage', the latest project from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams fits in I suppose would be down to a persons individual taste.
Starring a diverse range of actors which include Reese Shearsmith of 'The League of Gentlemen' fame, Andy Serkis who is best remembered for providing the voice of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and former Brookside star Jennifer Ellison. 'The Cottage' like the aforementioned 'Severance' is a low budget attempt to parody the slasher movie genre. 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' no doubt being a prime influence.
An odd direction for Williams to take considering that he had only just previously helm-ed 'London to Brighton', a dramatic picture that can only be described as being a million miles away from what this effort is. And while I applaud Williams wanting to go down a different avenue, I'm afraid it's an avenue he might have been best not traversing.
Now while I had some fairly optimistic hopes for 'The Cottage' I wasn't for one minute expecting a classic. But considering some of the talent involved I thought I should expect something of at least moderate value. Instead, while not completely awful. It falls pretty shy of the mark at being an amusing celebration of the slasher movie.
The problem with Williams first foray in to the Horror/comedy is that It's a film that has been clearly dissected in to two halves. Anyone with little or no knowledge of what the movie was about could be forgiven for believing they were watching a comedic kidnap caper rather than a gory slasher spoof. The first fifty minutes of the movie revolving around chalk and cheese brother's. The rough, roguish David (Serkis) and the spectacled, geeky Peter's (Shearsmith) amateurish attempts to keep the daughter of a powerful gangster under lock and key. Having kidnapped Tracey (Ellison) the crooked siblings plan to hold her to ransom. This would all be simple enough had David chosen someone more appropriate than his wimpy brother to aid and abet him. Not to mention that Tracey is a mouthy, obnoxious shrew who is far more resilient then either would have guessed. Throw in a couple of Chinese hit men sent by Tracey's father to follow the kidnappers to their secret location and things get that extra bit complicated. Especially when the Scouse blonde manages to escape and takes Peter hostage and makes the unwise move of taking him to the cottage of the title, which is inhabited by a deformed, homicidal farmer who you might say bears a resemblance to the infamous Leatherface.
This Horror/comedy outing suffers from the fact that it doesn't always quite know what type of movie it is. Starting with a fairly long build up which becomes so infuriating you almost find yourself shouting at the screen. Begging Willaims to get us to the farmer and his little house of horrors, too much time is taken up with focusing on the brothers failed plans. The Chinese seem nothing more than a disposable means as to in some way further the plot and hint at the sheer horror that is to unfold and are blatantly one dimensional caricatures. While the ineptitude that is displayed by Peter which initially provides the odd giggle eventually wears thin and becomes rather tedious. The performances from the three main protagonists/antagonists to be fair are fairly strong. Serkis plays straight man to Shearsmiths comically out of depth weed. It's a pairing that for the most part works as the two have definite chemistry and Ellison herself provides a suitably foul mouthed, acid tongued performance as the bitchy Tracey. But rather than be raise a laugh she proves just to be an obscene annoyance rather than a amusing thorn in the duo's side. And she soon begins to grate.
Far from there being any tension to counter balance the laughs. These are shoddily executed and there are no real genuine moments that make you leap out of your chair or have you watching the film from behind your fingers. While the OTT shrieks of Shearsmiths as he witnesses the brutality doled out by the psychotic farmer are badly judged and made me raise my eye's to the ceiling. Is this the level of horrific humour that Williams expects us to enjoy? And with the requisite clichés piled on with little or no finesse whatsoever, what we're left with is a substandard piece of fluff which eventually ends on a bad joke which left me feeling somewhat bemused and let down once the movie suddenly cut to black and the end credits began to role.
So would I recommend 'The Cottage', I should think that question really needs no answer from me as I believe I've made my feelings on the film perfectly clear. I would advise against seeing it. But if you do then at least have a look out for veteran British actor Steven O' Donnell (best known for playing Spudgun in TV's 'Bottom')as Tracey's dim witted step brother. His appearance may be one of the few little moments that may elevate the tedium.
Not Good
Review date: 2008-11-23 Rating: 2 out of 10
This film is seriously not funny or scary. You'll maybe laugh once or twice at how stupid the film is.
Not that funny and not that scary.
Review date: 2008-11-12 Rating: 4 out of 10
Small time crook David (Andy 'Gollum' Serkis) and Peter (Reece 'The League of Gentlemen' Shearsmith) kidnap the feisty Tracey (Jennifer Ellison) to hold her gangster father to ransom for £100,000. Unfortunately the cottage where they choose to hide out is the stalking ground of a lumpy headed maniac.
Hmmm. A bit of a strange one this. Neither full on comedy or full on horror, 'The Cottage' doesn't deliver that many laughs or indeed that many scares. I was expecting some of the macabre comic genius of 'The League of Gentleman' with some of the frights of 'An American Werewolf In London' but was let down on both counts. Whilst Serkis is fairly good as one exasperated kidnapper, Shearsmith is a little wooden as the other and I know Jennifer Ellison is supposed to be playing the common as muck daughter of a scally gangster but hearing the C word coming from a womans mouth still makes me wince a bit, and she says it a LOT. The dialogue is pretty horrible in places with way too much unnecessary profanity and that's before the unscary psycho makes an appearance. Having spent such a fortune on gore, you'd think the production team may have bought a slightly more convincing halloween mask for the killer to wear. There are some good bits but 'The Cottage is more miss than hit.
Like this? Try: Severance
Lovely little film!
Review date: 2008-10-25 Rating: 6 out of 10
The past few years have seen a wave of comedy horrors hitting the big screen rather than the bottom corner of a rental stores shelves, this installment is by a previously critically acclaimed director and stars a couple of familiar faces from England's comedy scene, as well as Jennifer Ellison (whom i assure you isn't as annoying as you may expect).
As with most of the recent comedy horrors the humor in this film is very subtle and doesn't come in the form of your Friends style by-the-numbers one liners. Leaving the film's comedy factor revolving mainly around the more grisly side of dark and black comedy. This is made easy by the excellent choice in casting, leading infamous black comedy actors in the cast's midsts.
Although its not extravagantly clear, the film was sot under a very low budget. This doesn't effect the movie too much as very little is used in the making of this film; the cast is minimal, using 6 protagonists MAX and a few extras. The setting is, obviously, narrowed down to a couple of cottages and a field, so the budget can't of been effected too dramatically there either.
One thing i did notice about this film is that not much happened throughout the film. If that seems a little too brief for a proper concept then you could compare it to such films as Fargo, where a feature length flick holds, what seems to be, very few events or is really a microcosm of the level that most other films are at. Yet this doesn't down the film at all, another point i have to make about this film is that, as we've seen from this director in the past, the audience is left ti decide on what the film's background is actually about. The Cottage is an unmistakeably British film, not following the American rules on making a films story so obvious that its planned out in front of you in the most gaumless way possible.
Yet i give the film 3 stars?
Well really at the end of the day what we have here is a brilliant and entertaining film that was knock-out when i watched it at the cinema and didn't dissapoint, Yet just one of those films that wouldn't work as well the second time round. Along with the fact that, as well as this is a great little film, it just seems to have reached its terminal and its terminal simply couldn't have got much higher.
As a lifetime collector of films and in particular the horror genre of the cinema world, i would reccomend this to anyone who's interested in horror films, in particular british horror, and those who have took an interest in the recent comedy-horror wave.
Enjoy!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Steve O'Donnell
Andy Serkis
Reece Shearsmith
Jennifer Ellison
Creators:
Jennifer Ellison (Primary Contributor)
Andy Serkis (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Pathe
Manufacturer: Pathe
EAN: 5060002836071
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-07-14
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 88 minutes